English Premier League: Aston Villa vs Sunderland - Half Time Report
Starting XI for Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Clark, Ashley Young, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Downing, Agbonlahor, Heskey
Subs: Marshall, Pires, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Bannan, Lichaj, Herd
Starting XI for Sunderland: Gordon, Bardsley, Ferdinand, Bramble, Richardson, Elmohamady, Meyler, Henderson, Malbranque, Welbeck, Bent
Subs: Mignolet, Zenden, Angeleri, Da Silva, Riveros, Gyan, Adams
Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)
An all-action Sunderland travelled to an out-of-form Aston Villa, whose 3-3 draw against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 on the weekend earned them the lifetime from their otherwise tremulous season.
On the sixth minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ciaran-Clark-c9247 crossed from the Villa left, but Stewart Downing's header was off-balance. Moments later, Ashley Young kept the pressure up on Sunderland with some trickery deep in Black Cats' territory, but the away side cleared their
lines.
A few minutes later, a looping Downing cross from the right was palmed away by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Craig-Gordon-c9476, at the expense of a corner for Villa. From that set-piece, Gabby Agbonlahor flicked the ball on, but it travelled harmlessly wide. It were the hosts who were making
most of the opportunities and showed their hunger for attacks.
All their hard work led Villa to win a corner, after Bardsley expertly tackled Heskey running through on goal. The delivery is deep towards http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Richard-Dunne-c31070, who heads back into the box, and Heskey's additional flick-on was eventually smothered by Gordon, who
won the free-kick when collecting the ball, in the Sunderland goal.
It was then Sunderland’s turn to attack when Clark sloppily gave the ball to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Meyler-c10556, who tried to thread it through to Bent, but instead won a corner. From Henderson's delivery, Clark appeared to have put a hand to the ball in the box, but no penalty
was given for Sunderland.
In the dying moments of the match, Villa's http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Young-c6813 expertly cut the ball back from the right flank for Heskey. The big striker got power behind his header but diverted it wide.
Surprisingly, it were the hosts who controlled most of the first half play. Steve Bruce would surely want to change things a bit in order to get better possession in the second half. The Black Cats were completely outplayed in the first 45 minutes of the
match and would now want to come back from that.
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