Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 1
Scorer: Chopra (83m)
Villa Park
Attendance: 42,640
Barclays Premier League
Saturday March 22, 2008

Michael Chopra's late goal handed Sunderland their first away win of the season, as we edged out a dull Aston Villa side this afternoon.

Kenwyne Jones was left out of the squad for the first time since our FA Cup loss to Wigan, meaning that our out-of-form striker was being replaced by Daryl Murphy and Roy O'Donovan up front. Kieran Richardson returned to the squad after missing the Chelsea game.

Shaun Maloney saw a 20 yard shot charged down in the opening minutes for the hosts, before we went down the other end and saw Roy O'Donovan put a shot wide after a cross from Murphy. The two sides exchanged pressure, but we had to wait until the 20th minute before our next decent chance, again with O'Donovan putting a shot over from Kieran Richardson's cross.

Referee Howard Webb got involved too, deciding to not even give a free kick when Villa keeper Scott Carson handled the ball outside the area - right in front of the referee! How Webb (and Carson, for that matter) got away with that one remains to be seen.

O'Donovan headed another ball over the bar on 25 minutes, again from a Richardson cross, while a foul on the Irishman five minutes later led to a free kick, which Dean Whitehead placed just wide of Carson's goal. Moments later, a foul from Phil Bardsley gave Villa a free kick, but this time Shaun Maloney curled the shot over the bar - as opposed to finding the back of the net, like he did against us at the SOL earlier this season.

The two sides went into the break level, and we had a good chance to take the lead shortly after the restart, when Maloney lost the ball to Carlos Edwards, who fired a shot over from 25 yards out. Another foul from Bardsley gave Villa a free kick on 54 minutes, only for Ashley Young to see his shot punched away.

Aston Villa sub Marlon Harewood almost scored within seconds of coming on, firing wide after beating Nyron Nosworthy on 59 minutes, as we slowly let Villa back into the game. Agbonlahor saw a low cross drift wide for a goal kick on 67 minutes as this game looked set to head for a goal-less draw.

That finish looked more likely when Grant Leadbitter somehow sent a shot so wide it went out for a throw in on 78 minutes, but Michael Chopra ensured all three points for us with seven minutes to go, when Kieran Richardson's pass sent the former Cardiff striker through to lob Carson and score his first goal in three months.

Sunderland had to play out three minutes of injury time, but there wasn't much holding on to be done as Villa - despite having John Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Marlon Harewood on the pitch as attacking threats - did nothing to trouble Craig Gordon.

Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Collins, Evans, Nosworthy, Edwards (sub 67, Leadbitter), Whitehead, K Richardson, Reid, Murphy (sub 87, Yorke), O'Donovan (sub 59, Chopra). Subs: Fulop, Prica.

Aston Villa: Carson, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Gardner, Maloney (sub 74, Osbourne), Reo-Coker (sub 57, Harewood), Barry, Young, Agbonlahor, Carew. Subs: Taylor, Petrov, Salifou.