Sunderland 0 Aston Villa 1
Gus Poyet had vowed to run down the tunnel and check the Barclays Premier League table if his side had pulled off the unexpected and actually won a home game. But this is Sunderland. He will learn not to make such rash predictions.
Instead the Sunderland manager was forced to trudge back to the warmth and sanctuary of his Stadium of Light office to see a list of 20 teams, still propped up by his side, still making very depressing reading for him and nearly 40,000 poor Mackems who defied the weather and economics for yet another depressing 90 minutes.
'I am fed up,' Poyet admitted in one of the briefest post-match press conferences in Barclays Premier League history. 'I didn't expect that.
VIDEO Scroll down to watch the post-match reaction of Lambert and Poyet
Gift of the Gab: Gabby Agbonlahor gives Aston Villa a first-half lead at Sunderland
Match facts
Sunderland (4-2-3-1):
Mannone 7; Celustka 5, Diakite 5, Roberge 4 (Johnson 77, 5), Bardsley
5; Cattermole 5 (Borini 46, 5), Ki 6; Ji 4 (Altidore 66, 4), Colback 5,
Giaccherini 6; Fletcher 5.
Subs not used: Dossena, Larsson, Gardner, Pickford.
Manager: Gus Poyet 5.
Booked: Giaccherini, Ki.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Guzan 6; Lowton 6, Baker 7, Vlaar 6 (Albrighton 70, 5), Luna 6; Bacuna 7, Delph 8, Westwood 6; Benteke 7, Agbonlahor 7, Weimann 7.
Subs not used: El Ahmadi, Tonev, Bowry, Kozak, Donacien, Steer.
Manager: Paul Lambert 7.
Booked: Bacuna, Delph.
Referee: Mike Jones 5.
Man of the match: Fabian Delph
*Player ratings by COLIN YOUNG at the Stadium of Light
Subs not used: Dossena, Larsson, Gardner, Pickford.
Manager: Gus Poyet 5.
Booked: Giaccherini, Ki.
Aston Villa (4-3-3): Guzan 6; Lowton 6, Baker 7, Vlaar 6 (Albrighton 70, 5), Luna 6; Bacuna 7, Delph 8, Westwood 6; Benteke 7, Agbonlahor 7, Weimann 7.
Subs not used: El Ahmadi, Tonev, Bowry, Kozak, Donacien, Steer.
Manager: Paul Lambert 7.
Booked: Bacuna, Delph.
Referee: Mike Jones 5.
Man of the match: Fabian Delph
*Player ratings by COLIN YOUNG at the Stadium of Light
'There were too many nerves and too much tension and I don't know why. People were making individual decisions, not thinking as a team and that disappoints me.
'The weakest people look for excuses and it is all down to us to correct it.'
The conditions were nearly as dreadful as one of the worst Sunderland home performances even in recent memory. And from a team, who were unbeaten in five and encouraged by four points on their travels at Everton and fourth-from-bottom Cardiff City.
As was the case after failures against Norwich and Tottenham, Poyet was left perplexed by the ineptitude of a defeat which was handed to Aston Villa by Lee Cattermole's awful error, opened up a nine-point gap between the two sides and could actually have been an awful lot worse.
'I thought we were comfortable and could have won by three or four,' said Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert, no doubt recalling the two excellent saves Vito Mannone made from Leandro Bacuna and Gabriel Agbonlahor, the wasteful shot of Marc Albrighton hit high and wide in the dying minutes and the header off the line from Phil Bardsley which denied Christian Benteke his first goal in 11 games.
Hero not Villain: Agbonlahor celebrates his third goal of the season
Despair: Villa congratulate Agbonlahor while Sunderland's Jack Colback looks dejected following the concession
Match Zone: Gabby Agbonlahor scores the only goal of the game after an error by Sunderland's Lee Cattermole - Click here for more stats and graphics
But if Poyet is stumped by the ineptitude of his players, who could hardly pass, create chances to trouble Brad Guzan or even managed to get corners into the danger area, what are the rest of us to make of it?
Sunderland fans certainly ran out of patience long before the final whistle and they are now expected to fork out for five home more games this month, including the additional cost of two cup ties in the next six days. Sunday's FA Cup opponents Carlisle lost at Crewe yesterday but will come in better shape than a Black Cats team which will be weakened. Allegedly.
Although Poyet and home supporters were unhappy with two borderline decisions by Mike Jones in the first five minutes of the second-half - one handball against Nathan Baker and an offside decision against Emanuele Giaccherini who slotted his shot under Guzan - it was the players who felt the real wrath of fans.
No goal: Emanuele Giaccherini finds the net for Sunderland but his effort is chalked off
Handy: Villa's victory eases the pressure on manager Paul Lambert whose side had not won in six matches
SPORTSMAIL'S SUPER STAT
This
was the fifth New Year's Day meeting between Sunderland and Aston
Villa. Villa have now won two, Sunderland one and they have drawn two.
The previous game on January 1 2002 finished 1-1.
Like Ji, Cattermole was substituted by Poyet. Although it was his obsession with passing which was to blame, the momentary loss of concentration and control from the stand-in captain gifted possession to the Villa striker at the edge of the area and he skipped past Mannone for one of the easiest goals of his life.
The Sunderland manager at least explained that decision. 'It was very difficult for Lee to carry on and for him and the players to maintain a good relationship with the fans,' he said. 'I thought it was better for the whole team and the whole stadium to drop Lee. It was not because of the way he was playing or the mistake.'
Not so Fab: Fabio Borini sees his path to goal blocked during Sunderland's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa
Bottom: The defeat leaves Gus Poyet's side propping up the Premier League table
Drought: Villa's Christian Benteke has not scored since September, a run of 11 games without a goal
Sunderland had 17 shots at goal, but thanks to the dreadful finishing of Ji, Giaccherini, Steven Fletcher, Jack Colback, Ki Sung-yeung, only Ki was on target and Guzan gathered his weak shot safely. Giaccherini's strike was ruled out by the width of the hand which Hussin decided put him in an offside position.
While there was abject misery for Poyet, Lambert was rewarded for his brave selections and the endeavour of Benteke, Fabian Delph and Agbonlahor, who, like Colback, tested the patience of Jones as tempers frayed in the dying minutes and was lucky to finish the game.
Lambert said: 'Gabby got us a massive goal again. He's got speed like that and when he's in that sort of form, he is excellent.
'And I thought Benteke for his first game back was definitely like his old self. There were big performances in there.'
Confrontation: Sunderland's Colback clashes with Aston Villa's Fabian Delph before Ron Vlaar intervenes
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