Aston Villa 2 Sunderland 1
Scorers: Aston Villa - A Young (18m), Carew (33m); Sunderland - Cisse (10m)
Villa Park
Attendance: 38,706
Barclays Premier League
Saturday September 27, 2008

Aston Villa came from behind as Sunderland's unbeaten away record came to an end in Birmingham this afternoon.

Roy Keane reverted back to the side that beat Middlesbrough last weekend, with injuries forcing his two changes - Danny Collins and Liam Miller replacing the injured Nyron Nosworthy and Teemu Tainio, while our subs bench saw young midfielder Jordan Henderson appear in the first team team sheet for the first time.

Sunderland had the better of the opening exchanges, with Liam Miller testing Brad Friedel early on, before a counter attack gave us the lead in the tenth minute when a through ball from Steed Malbranque set up Djibril Cisse for an electrifying run and shot from 15 yards that found the back of the net.

Our lead didn't last long, as Miller gave away a free kick on the edge of the area, allowing Ashley Young to dispatch the set piece past Craig Gordon eight minutes later.

The Lads found themselves briefly down to ten men as Danny Collins needed treatment after John Carew bloodied his nose in the 27th minute, and it was the Norwegian who found himself on the scoresheet five minutes later, when Carew backheeled in what turned out to be the winner for Villa, when a free kick from Ashley Young fell to the striker.

Villa ended the first half on top, but were unable to add to their lead, but Sunderland spent the second half slowly but surely hunting for an equaliser, with Miller coming close, before Dean Whitehead found himself dispossessed by Gabriel Agbonlahor, who proceeded to shoot wide from 20 yards out.

Daryl Murphy found himself denied a penalty appeal after being stopped in the box, but in the end Villa held out despite a barrage of attempts, finishing the game by winding town time in the corners to claim all three points after we failed to make our second half advantage count.

Sunderland: Gordon, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Collins, McCartney, Malbranque, Whitehead, Richardson (sub 79, Stokes), Miller (sub 59, Reid), Cisse, Diouf (sub 59, Murphy). Subs: Fulop, Chopra, Healy, Henderson.

Aston Villa: Friedel, L Young, Davies, Laursen, Shorey (sub 70, Milner), Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, A Young, Agbonlahor, Carew (sub 90, Cuellar). Subs: Guzan, Harewood, Knight, Salifou, Gardner.