Aston Villa put in a dominant first-half performance to set up an emphatic 4-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League this afternoon.
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The home side made the brighter start to proceedings, with Ricardo Alvarez attempting to set up Patrick van Aanholt early on, but the defender's finish was well wide.
Villa soon took the lead though as Leandro Bacuna charged down the right flank before crossing in for Christian Benteke to put a deflected shot past Costel Pantilimon.
It took Tim Sherwood's side just two minutes to double their advantage as a high ball forward fell kindly for Gabriel Agbonlahor, who controlled it with ease before calmly tapping the ball past the keeper.
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The striker picked up his second of the game before the break, weaving through the Sunderland defenders to get his shot away and resulting in floods of home supporters leaving the stadium early.
Benteke also fired in a second before half time, making the most of some sloppy defending to rise high and head in just before the interval.
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Sunderland started the second half a man short, as Sebastian Larsson limped back onto the pitch in the 48th minute, having apparently needed a longer break to receive treatment.
Charles N'Zogbia came close to making it five for Villa after the restart, trying his luck with a powerful strike from the edge of the box which Pantilimon got clear.
Gus Poyet's men had a chance to pull once back when substitute Connor Wickham found Steven Fletcher, who crossed in for Jermain Defoe, but the striker could not quite stretch for it.
Sunderland had another chance to cut the deficit when Larsson went for goal from a free kick 25 yards out, forcing a save from Brad Guzan.
However, they were unable to get a consolation goal late on for the sparce crowd that stayed until the end of the match.
The result means that Villa are now above Sunderland in the table, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Sian Cowper
