Cats halt Villa's Euro charge

Aston Villa's Champions League hopes took a dent as Sunderland claimed a 1-1 draw at Villa Park.

Carew is Villa's saviour for second time in five days

Aston Villa's UEFA Champions League hopes took a further dent as Sunderland claimed a 1-1 draw at Villa Park. Villa had the chance to go fifth and close the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham but the hosts found themselves a goal behind against the run of play when Fraizer Campbell coolly slotted home Kieran Richardson's through-ball with 22 minutes gone. The Black Cats' lead did not last long though as John Carew cashed in on a gorgeous cross by Ashley Young to score his eighth goal in seven games on the half-hour mark. Both sides had chances to clinch three points but a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing saw Wednesday's Premier League encounter end honours even. Villa remain unbeaten in the league in 2010, but Martin O'Neill's side, who have now drawn seven of their last 10 top-flight games, dropped two more precious points in their push for football at Europe's top table.

Saviour

Carew was Villa's saviour for the second time in five days after scoring a late equaliser in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Wolves but O'Neill would have been pleased with the opening exchanges as his side were the first to threaten after five minutes. Ashley Young, who again posed plenty of questions to his opponents' backline, found himself in space to the right of the Black Cats penalty area and his fierce dipping shot was saved by the legs of Craig Gordon, who was oustanding in the early stages of the match. Young won the first corner of the game and, from Stewart Downing's centre, Gordon again did well to block a powerful header from Villa central defender James Collins. Villa looked lively in the early stages and a dangerous ball from Young only just eluded the lunge of Emile Heskey inside the six-yard box. In a rare Sunderland attack, leading scorer Darren Bent had the ball in the net but the flag was already up for offisde. The home side were forced into a change after 14 minutes when Heskey limped out of the action to be replaced by youngster Nathan Delfouneso after appearing to over stretch. It was a worrying sight for Villa with top scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor already sidelined with a foot injury. Villa continued to dominate and Collins headed an inswinging Young free-kick wide at the far post after Alan Hutton had brought down Delfouneso. But after 22 minutes, Villa were rocked on their heels when Campbell put the visitors in front with his third goal in the last four matches. Richardson was the creator with a perfectly weighted pass which allowed Campbell to beat the offside trap before lofting his shot wide of Brad Friedel. Villa tried to retaliate and Richardson produced a timely tackle on Milner as he prepared to shoot 20 yards out.

Deserved

Then after half an hour the in-form Carew brought Villa back on level terms. James Milner picked out the run of Young and his low skidding cross was turned home by the former Lyon player just inside the six-yard box. It brought his goal tally to six in the last five games and was no more than Villa deserved on the balance of play. Campbell had a good chance to restore Sunderland's lead a minute before the interval as he seized on to a flick on from Bent after getting in front of Richard Dunne but failed to make proper contact on his shot. John Mensah wasted a golden chance to restore Sunderland's lead after the interval. Jordan Henderson played a short free-kick to Richardson and his floated cross found Mensah completely unmarked six yards out but he headed wide. The game was flowing from end to end and Gordon finger-tipped a curling effort from Carew around the post although referee Mike Dean awarded a goal-kick. Carew showed tremendous pace and power to surge into the Sunderland area but lost control at the vital moment. Sunderland defender Mensah limped off after 71 minutes and was replaced by Paulo Da Silva. Carew continued to pose problems and glanced a header wide from a Downing centre but Villa were unable to find a winner. And Friedel had to be alert to turn a low effort from Bent around the post after Dunne was dispossessed by Bent. Villa huffed and puffed for a winner in the closing stages as substitute Steve Sidwell blazed over but it ended up being a frustrating night for those in Claret and Blue.

Aston Villa	Team Statistics	Sunderland
1	Goals	1
1	1st Half Goals	1
4	Shots on Target	3
9	Shots off Target	5
3	Blocked Shots	2
6	Corners	7
8	Fouls	7
4	Offsides	4
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
64.4	Passing Success	70.3
21	Tackles	21
66.7	Tackles Success	71.4
47.4	Possession	52.6
50	Territorial Advantage	50