A Richard Dunne own goal (an unwelcome record 8th in the Premiership) proved the only difference between the teams at the final whistle, but Gérard Houllier will be left scratching his head wondering why the side he sent out struggled to get a foot into this game until the 2nd half.

Perhaps team selection had a lot to do with it; Stephen Ireland far from settled, Richard Dunne far from fitness, but the XI that took to the field ought to have been able to demonstrate a little more composure and cohesion during the first half.

It started off as it so often does, extremely brightly, Stewart Downing running in from the right and onto Ashley Young’s through ball from Heskey’s nod on, striking the foot of the post with an excellent effort. Sadly that attempt would remain Villa’s only strike on goal for the rest of the half.

Reo-Coker made what is fast becoming a trademark surge up the pitch & into the box just minutes later and went down under a couple of challenges from behind with Sunderland goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet,charging out to meet him. Did he go down too easily? I’m not sure. Possibly an element of self preservation involved, but there was contact. Mark Halsey didn’t fancy it, but other referees might have.

Sunderland worked their right side, Ahmed Al Muhammadi proving a handful, giving Stephen Warnock a torrid time, although it’s fair to say he was in the wars today and must have been close to being brought off midway through the half. Interesting to note it was left footed Ciaran Clark who warmed up on the touchline in preparation, but fortunate that Warnock was able to continue.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Sunderland’s goal came from that side, crossed into the near post almost unchallenged only for Collins and Dunne to get in the way of each other with some comedy defending that left Richard Dunne sending the ball into his own net.

We lost captain Petrov around five minutes before the break and my Twitter timelines suggest that if fans were sad about that it was only because it was Steve Sidwell on to replace him.

A much stronger performance in the 2nd half gave reason to be optimistic that an equaliser, at least, might be found. After 10 minutes it was clear that stretching the Sunderland back line was opening up space for Ireland in a more advanced position, but his apparent lack of confidence meant he wasn’t the best player to take advantage of the opportunities.

Houllier made the logical switch and brought on Marc Albrighton in place of Ireland, Ashley Young moving into position behind Heskey and Downing to the left. His fresh legs and talent had the sort of impact we would expect and hope for and a goal looked all the more likely.

And that goal absolutely should have come when Emile Heskey somehow missed an open goal, nutmegging himself when it would have been easier to tap in.

So it finished, not the worst of overall performances, the 2nd half was pretty good, but a distinct lack of class all round the field. Looking for a moment of brilliance from someone, perhaps at Ashley Young – fortunately freed up to concentrate on his football without all the distractions of contracts – and there just wasn’t anything there.

A point wouldn’t have been undeserved, Sunderland will feel grateful for all three no doubt, but ultimately it comes down to one mistake at the back once again and, without a real goal threat at the other end, we stand little chance of cancelling such errors out.

The one highlight for me once more has been Reo-Coker, he was excellent defensively and sooner or later something has to come off for him in the final third of the pitch.

I’m playing around with the format of how I blog on matchday, but you can find the teamsheets here and the Statshack will follow tomorrow, if not later tonight.