Unai Emery happy as Aston Villa recover from ‘crazy minute’ to beat Sunderland | OneFootball

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery reflected on a “crazy minute” which saw his side throw away a two-goal lead before they scored late on to beat Sunderland 4-3 at Villa Park.

Ollie Watkins’ hot goalscoring form continued as he twice put Villa in front either side of 18-year-old Chris Rigg’s equaliser for Sunderland before Morgan Rogers made it 3-1 60 seconds into the second half.

It looked like Villa were on course for a routine 3-1 victory until Trai Hume got one back for Sunderland with four minutes to play and they were on level terms 58 seconds later as it looked like they had snatched an unlikely point.

However, Tammy Abraham emerged from the bench to knock in Lucas Digne’s cross and claim a vital win that pushed Villa 10 points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea as they battle to secure a Champions League spot.

Emery said: “We started well. The first half was good, not enough but good and the second half we started playing with confidence, dominating. We conceded a few offensive actions but not really chances.

“We were feeling comfortable. Of course, it was a crazy minute. We lost a little bit of focus, mind and positioning and they used it to score two goals and even have a chance after to score.

“We needed the goalkeepers. He saved the last one and the last minute it was clear we needed to win, one point was not enough.

“It was a so-crazy last 20 minutes. Afterwards we can feel good, calm and speaking about a great victory but the minute we were on the field struggling with the goal and chances, it was very difficult.”

Jadon Sancho replaced John McGinn in the 80th minute and let Sunderland back into the contest by gifting possession to Hume, who produced a great finish to make it 3-2 which sparked the comeback.

Emery stuck up for the on-loan Manchester United winger and said the mistake was not entirely his fault.

He added: “It is not his mistake. The mistake is how we did this action. If we did more passes, we could have avoided it.

“The idea in 90 minutes was through good positioning and keeping possession, trying to be patient. When we conceded one goal, we decided to go quickly. I am never punishing it.

“We are going to analyse and find solutions for mistakes. I am always taking responsibility for the mistakes, not the players.”

Sunderland had the chance to win it but Habib Diarra chipped one straight to Martinez while one-on-one, and Villa went down the other end of the pitch and scored to snatch the points.

Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris revealed Diarra put his hands up in the dressing room.

He said: “He apologised because he felt it was a key moment in this game and I don’t know about the decision-making but the goalkeeper played the situation properly as well.

“We are a bit disappointed which is a good sign because this is a tough place to play.

“We had ups and downs as as well, and today will be a good test for our journey and learning process, we are really young in this league.

“We are a newly promoted side so we are going through positive experiences and sometimes negative. We can be proud of our identity and the way we played this game.”