Sunderland 1, Aston Villa 0: Gregg Evans's big match verdict

Oct 25 2010 by Gregg Evans, Birmingham Mail

GERARD Houllier took heart from Villa’s second half performance despite seeing his side suffer a fourth away defeat of the season.

Richard Dunne’s own goal gave Sunderland an early lead at the Stadium of Light and the visitors could not claw their way back into the game.

Houllier said he was disappointed with the outcome but pleased with Villa’s spirit.

“Our possession seems to say that, as a result, we should have at least got one goal and probably got a draw,” he said.

“I thought we started well but then had a slump.

“But the second half was night and day with the first half.

“We were quicker, better, sharper and created chance after chance but we didn’t manage to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I was pleased with the effort of the players and their reaction.

“Don’t forget we lost our captain (Stiliyan Petrov) very quickly and that probably affected the team’s mental energy.

“But the reaction was good and the football was better in the second half.

“Obviously we exposed ourselves on a couple of times but that’s normal.

“I thought we were very unlucky at times, but that will come.

“Sometimes in football you have got to be aware that you don’t always get what you really deserve.

“Sometimes you get a win and it was not necessarily your day and I think today before they scored they didn’t have a lot of chances.

“The goal galvanised them and gave them confidence.” Villa’s travelling fans were left bitterly disappointed after the long trek up to the North-east.

But they had plenty to discuss on the journey home down the M1, including three penalty claims.

In all fairness, probably only Nigel Reo-Coker’s appeal was likely to have been considered by referee Mark Halsey, but he was having none of it and waved play on.