Tammy Abraham scored a stoppage-time winner as Aston Villa took a huge step towards securing Champions League football next season with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Sunderland at Villa Park.
After Chelsea were beaten by Manchester United on Saturday, Villa moved 10 points clear in the top five qualifying places, but almost threw away a two-goal lead in doing so. Ollie Watkins continued his rich vein of form with a pair of goals either side of Chris Rigg's equaliser for Sunderland, further boosting his case for a spot in Thomas Tuchel's World Cup plans.
Villa made a lightning start to the second period, and Morgan Rogers ended a run of seven Premier League matches without a goal to double Villa's advantage. However, Sunderland got back on level terms with late goals from Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor separated by just 58 seconds, before substitute Abraham jumped off the bench to save the day.
Villa put Sunderland on the back foot straight away, with John McGinn setting up Watkins to nod in after just 98 seconds. The visitors equalised six minutes later through Rigg's first Premier League goal. The crossbar denied Villa a retake of the lead before Watkins headed in his second after a brilliant run from Rogers.
Villa doubled their advantage 60 seconds after the restart when McGinn dispossessed Reinildo Mandava, leading to Rogers' goal. Sunderland pulled one back when Jadon Sancho lost possession to Hume, who bent into the top corner, and Isidor levelled a minute later. But Villa snatched all three points when Abraham poked home from Lucas Digne's cross in added time.
