Sunderland dropped two precious points as Aston Villa managed to come back from a goal down to snatch a 1-1 draw in their Premier League match on Saturday.

Sunderland had taken the lead early in the first half through Danny Higginbotham's header in the 10th minute but Shaun Maloney equalized for Villa with 17 minutes to spare. Sunderland looked set to have snatched all three points with an injury time goal by Danny Collins but the referee ruled out the effort due to a foul.

After a quite opening to the game, Sunderland took the lead in the 10th minute when Ross Wallace found Higginbotham with a great cross from the corner and the 28-year old rose high to head home from close range.

Stung by the goal, Villa pressed ahead in search of an equalizer and though they dominated possession for long periods of time, they were unable to break down a resolute Sunderland defense. John Carew came closest to equalizing for Villa when his cheeky flick hit the post before rolling out to safety.

Villa dominated the chances in the second half with Carew once again coming close to scoring but his weak shot was easily cleared by Higginbotham. It was a back to the wall job for Sunderland as they shut up shop, determined to ride out the pressure.

However a mistake by Paul McShane at the edge of the penalty area saw Aston Villa win a free kick and Maloney curled in the chance past Darren Ward and into the net to pull his side back on level terms. Sunderland looked to have snatched a late victory when Collins headed home the ball at the far post.

However the referee ruled out the effort for a foul on the goal keeper, dismissing protests by the Sunderland players as Villa held on to claim a point from the game.