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 on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been sent 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; 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…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 on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been sent 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; 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…
