Sunderland v Aston Villa, 14 March 2015

Score4-0 to Aston Villa
RefereeNeil Swarbrick
CompetitionPremier League
VenueStadium of Light
Attendance45,746
Kick-off: 3.00pm

Goals:

Goals:

Christian Benteke 16 G
Gabby Agbonlahor 18 G
Gabby Agbonlahor 37 G
Christian Benteke 44 G

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon
Defender Wes Brown
Defender John O'Shea
Defender/Midfielder Liam Bridcutt
Defender/Midfielder Jack Rodwell
Midfielder Ricky Alvarez
Midfielder Seb Larsson
Forward Jermain Defoe
Forward Steven Fletcher

Starting lineup:

Brad Guzan Goalkeeper
Matt Lowton Defender
Jores Okore Defender
Leandro Bacuna Defender/Midfielder
Ciaran Clark Defender/Midfielder
Tom Cleverley Midfielder
Fabian Delph Midfielder
Charles N'Zogbia Midfielder
Scott Sinclair Forward

Substitutions:

Connor Wickham for Ricky Alvarez 46
Danny Graham for Steven Fletcher 83

Substitutions:

Carlos Sánchez for Ciaran Clark 64
Andi Weimann for Charles N'Zogbia 79
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy for Christian Benteke 83

Cards:

Liam Bridcutt 90 Y

Cards:

Leandro Bacuna 8 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone
Defender Billy Jones
Defender Santiago Vergini
Midfielder Jordi Gómez
Forward Danny Graham
Forward Connor Wickham

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Shay Given
Defender Lewis Kinsella
Defender/Midfielder Ashley R Westwood
Midfielder Carles Gil
Midfielder Carlos Sánchez
Midfielder/Forward Andi Weimann

Comments:

League position: 17th Manager Gus Poyet was sacked two days after this game. The Black Cats had now won just one of their last 12 Premier League matches. This was Sunderland’s 100th home defeat and 250th defeat in total in the Premier League. This was the first time that they had conceded four goals in the first half of a home game in the Premier League. They started the second half with only ten players. After about four minutes, Seb Larsson rejoined the match having had stitches inserted in to an ankle injury. Liam Bridcutt was booked in the first minute of added time in the second half.

Comments:

League position: 16th Prior to this match, Aston Villa had lost their last six away games in the Premier League without scoring. Their on-the-road goal drought lasted a total of ten hours and 14 minutes. They scored four goals in the first-half of this game after netting a total of only four goals in all of their preceding 14 away league games in the 2014-15 season. This was the first time they had scored four goals in an away game in the Premier League since 26 October 2008 in a 4-0 success at Wigan Athletic. When Villa replaced Christian Benteke with substitute Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, he became the fourth youngest player to play in the Premier League, aged 16 years and 176 days. He became Villa's youngest player in the Premier League (Gareth Barry was 17 years and 67 days when he made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday on 2 May 1998) and their second-youngest in all competitions (Jimmy Brown was 15 years and 349 days were he made his first appearance on 17 September 1969 in a League Division Two game at Bolton Wanderers). The Premier League’s Goal Accreditation Panel ruled on the following: - Aston Villa’s first goal against Sunderland on Saturday 14th March 2015 has been confirmed as a Christian Benteke goal. (Circular 23 – 19th March 2015)

Goals:

Starting lineup:

Goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon
Defender Wes Brown
Defender John O'Shea
Defender/Midfielder Liam Bridcutt
Defender/Midfielder Jack Rodwell
Midfielder Ricky Alvarez
Midfielder Seb Larsson
Forward Jermain Defoe
Forward Steven Fletcher

Substitutions:

Connor Wickham for Ricky Alvarez 46
Danny Graham for Steven Fletcher 83

Cards:

Liam Bridcutt 90 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Vito Mannone
Defender Billy Jones
Defender Santiago Vergini
Midfielder Jordi Gómez
Forward Danny Graham
Forward Connor Wickham

Comments:

League position: 17th Manager Gus Poyet was sacked two days after this game. The Black Cats had now won just one of their last 12 Premier League matches. This was Sunderland’s 100th home defeat and 250th defeat in total in the Premier League. This was the first time that they had conceded four goals in the first half of a home game in the Premier League. They started the second half with only ten players. After about four minutes, Seb Larsson rejoined the match having had stitches inserted in to an ankle injury. Liam Bridcutt was booked in the first minute of added time in the second half.

Goals:

Christian Benteke 16 G
Gabby Agbonlahor 18 G
Gabby Agbonlahor 37 G
Christian Benteke 44 G

Starting lineup:

Brad Guzan Goalkeeper
Matt Lowton Defender
Jores Okore Defender
Leandro Bacuna Defender/Midfielder
Ciaran Clark Defender/Midfielder
Tom Cleverley Midfielder
Fabian Delph Midfielder
Charles N'Zogbia Midfielder
Scott Sinclair Forward

Substitutions:

Carlos Sánchez for Ciaran Clark 64
Andi Weimann for Charles N'Zogbia 79
Rushian Hepburn-Murphy for Christian Benteke 83

Cards:

Leandro Bacuna 8 Y

On the bench:

Goalkeeper Shay Given
Defender Lewis Kinsella
Defender/Midfielder Ashley R Westwood
Midfielder Carles Gil
Midfielder Carlos Sánchez
Midfielder/Forward Andi Weimann

Comments:

League position: 16th Prior to this match, Aston Villa had lost their last six away games in the Premier League without scoring. Their on-the-road goal drought lasted a total of ten hours and 14 minutes. They scored four goals in the first-half of this game after netting a total of only four goals in all of their preceding 14 away league games in the 2014-15 season. This was the first time they had scored four goals in an away game in the Premier League since 26 October 2008 in a 4-0 success at Wigan Athletic. When Villa replaced Christian Benteke with substitute Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, he became the fourth youngest player to play in the Premier League, aged 16 years and 176 days. He became Villa's youngest player in the Premier League (Gareth Barry was 17 years and 67 days when he made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday on 2 May 1998) and their second-youngest in all competitions (Jimmy Brown was 15 years and 349 days were he made his first appearance on 17 September 1969 in a League Division Two game at Bolton Wanderers). The Premier League’s Goal Accreditation Panel ruled on the following: - Aston Villa’s first goal against Sunderland on Saturday 14th March 2015 has been confirmed as a Christian Benteke goal. (Circular 23 – 19th March 2015)