The finish was chaotic but, when the dust settles, this perhaps was the afternoon when Aston Villa made a decisive spurt for the finish line to claim Champions League qualication. As Tammy Abraham touched in the winner three minutes into injury-time, Unai Emery ran onto the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been set clean through with a chance of his own to win it. Emi Martínez, though, stretched up to save his dink, and the road was cleared for the Villa winner.
It was a game played amid a strange spirit of relaxation, with both sides having effectively achieved their ambitions for the season before kick-off: for Sunderland, avoiding the drop, and for Villa qualifying for the Champions League; Unai Emery’s fifth Europa League success, itself a potential route into the premier competition, may still come as a bonus. This was just Villa’s fifth win in 15 league games since their run of eight league wins in a row came to an end in late December, and as a result they now have a 10-point lead over Chelsea in sixth with five games remaining.
Continue reading...
