Player Ratings - Sunderland 3 - 1 Aston Villa

Vito Mannone - 7

Another decent performance from the Italian stopper - there was very little he could do about Villa's outstanding equalising goal. Seemed very comfortable both aerially and on the floor and will surely keep his place for the Swansea game.

Patrick Van Aanholt - 7

Showed great character taking that strike on which gave us the lead, even if he was afforded a fortunate deflection which sent it past Brad Guzan. Came close with his free kick and generally worked very hard for the team. Struggled to deal with Traore at first and maybe could have done more to prevent him crossing balls into our area but other than that thought he did very well. Credit where credit is due.

Wes Brown - 8

Vintage Brown today. I hold my hands up - I was critical of him after the Liverpool game and wasn't looking forward to him playing today but felt it was a great call from Allardyce pairing him with O'Shea. He was rock solid in the tackle, untroubled aerially and kept Rudy Gestede quiet throughout.

John O'Shea - 7

See above. Comfortable performance.

Billy Jones - 6

Grafted hard up and down the line and was better defensively today than he has been in recent weeks.

Lee Cattermole - 8

A few sloppy passes here and there but ultimately he is the heartbeat of our side and without him we don't work anywhere near as hard. Him and M'Vila are a great pairing, and if we are to stay up we have to keep him fit.

Yann M'Vila - 7

He's one of the most consistent performers I've seen in a Sunderland shirt in years. Never has a bad game.

Adam Johnson - 6

Thought he was poor in the first half but improved in the second and played a good ball into Defoe for his first goal. Someone else needs to be taking his set pieces though.

Fabio Borini - 4

Just wasn't with it today. Ran about like a headless chicken, won very little, and a woeful error on his part which led to their goal. His body language wasn't great either.

Duncan Watmore - 5

Worked hard as he always does but important to remember he's still very raw. Cissokho dealt with him comfortably before he was brought off.

Jermaine Defoe - 9

For someone who is thirty-three years of age he is unbelievably fit. He was all over the pitch, chased everything down and clinical in front of goal. Such a good finisher of the ball - his first was a wonderful strike.

Substitutes

Ola Toivonen - 7

Showed a little bit of quality when it mattered. Laid it on a plate for Defoe's second.

Danny Graham - 4

Feel for him really, he's never a right winger as long as I've got a hole in my arse and he's been asked to play their twice in recent games. Struggled.

Seb Coates - 5

Had very little to do when he came on.

Man Of The Match - Jermain Defoe

Wes Brown and Lee Cattermole ran him close but I have to give it to Jermain today. Took both his goals well and might have scored a few more on another day. Worked relentlessly hard to win the ball back when we didn't have it. Nine goals already this season from him - lets hope he can keep it up.

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