Villa 0 Sunderland 0 - Report and pictures

Ten-man Aston Villa survived midfielder Fabian Delph's sending off to record a draw in the Premier League at home to Sunderland.

[gallery]

Delph was sent off four minutes after half-time as Villa went a man down for the third time in four games, but they held on for a point.

Sunderland had produced the first threat, with Connor Wickham's shot being blocked by Ciaran Clark at the expense of a corner.

Villa roared back as Christian Benteke worked his way into a good position on the edge of the penalty area, before unleashing a fierce rising right-foot drive which wasn't far over.

Delph also cleared the woodwork before combining superbly with Alan Hutton in the 11th minute, John O'Shea snuffing out the danger before Andreas Weimann could capitalise.

There were a few sighs of relief in the home camp when Wickham's cross-shot from the left sneaked just past the far post, with Steven Fletcher arriving just too late to make contact.

Charles N'Zogbia forced goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon to claim his long-range left footer in the 34th minute, in what was the last meaningful opportunity of the first-half.

Villa opened the second-half looking to make the breakthrough, Weimann firing left-footed just past the far post following a fine Carlos Sanchez pass.

But their chances of winning the contest were all-but-over two minutes later, when Delph's late tackle on Jordi Gomez saw him receive a straight red card.

Villa had to resort to trying to hit Sunderland on the break with substitute Jack Grealish nearly nicking a goal, curling an angled shot only just past the far post.

Grealish then delivered a left-wing corner that was met by a glancing header from Ron Vlaar, which Patilimon pushed away for another flag kick.

Then came a blistering finale, which saw Gomez's drive hit the post before Leandro Bacuna's angled shot was pushed away by Pantilimon.

[comments_cta header="What do you think?" text="A good point for Aston Villa against Sunderland with 10 men?" button="Log in and start commenting"]