A late goal by Gareth Barry helped Aston Villa maintain their place in the top four of the league table after a hard fought victory away to Sunderland on Saturday.

A confident beginning to the match saw Sunderland create a number of chances in the first half with Danny Collins putting the hosts in the lead after heading home Carlos Edwards' free kick. Dean Whitehead had a great chance to double the lead minutes later but Brad Friedel pulled off an excellent save to deny the midfielder.

Anton Ferdinand went close to scoring with a header but his shot narrowly missed the target. Ashley Young almost equalized for Villa at the other end but his shot flew inches wide of the target. A driving run by Kenwyne Jones saw him race past the Villa defense but the striker only managed to hit a weak shot that was easily saved by Friedel.

Villa stepped up the pressure in the second half and were rewarded in the 60th minute when Young crossed the ball for Milner who slid the ball home past Fulop. The visitors received a blow 12 minutes later when Young was shown a straight red card for a foul on Whitehead.

With time ticking away, referee Mike Dean ruled Paul McShane's challenge on Agbonlahor to be illegal and awarded Villa a penalty that was calmly put away by Gareth Barry to help his side to a hard fought victory in the end.