PREMIERSHIP: Aston Villa 0 Sunderland 1

Aston Villa's current dip in form continues - and there must now be real concerns that a season which has promised so much could yet fizzle out and leave manager Martin O'Neill and his side with nothing.

The repercussions of Niklas Bendtner's last-gasp equaliser for Arsenal at Emirates Stadium three weeks ago are still being keenly felt, as was apparent as Villa once again turned in a nervy performance.

Gone is the self-belief and hunger to win that this side displayed earlier in the season and O'Neill knows they must now turn themselves around quickly if they are to bid for one of the available Uefa Cup spots - or at the very least pursue their Intertoto Cup entry.

But with a visit to Manchester United looming next weekend, Villa have a mountain to climb as they failed to monopolise on the fact that Everton and Portsmouth once again dropped points in the battle for fourth and fifth place.

Villa had started the match against Roy Keane's Black Cats looking as if they meant business and had at least 70 per cent of the possession in the first half but gilt-edged chances are now going begging and it is not just striker Gabriel Agbonlahor who has failed to find the back of the net since December.

Villa's trademark set-pieces, which have accounted for almost half of all their goals this season, have become few and far between and when they are earned, free-kicks and corners are no longer having the desired affect.

When Norwegian international John Carew saw two great chances go begging - the first after fine work from Agbonlahor and the second an acrobatic overhead kick which just fell wide of Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon's upright, the capacity crowd must have begun to realise it was not going to be their day.

Agbonlahor promised much with his searing runs time and again on the flank but Sunderland were prepared to battle for their Premier League survival and threw everything into some sterling defending.

Defender Martin Laursen, who has himself found the net five times this season, could have added to that tally after 20 minutes but saw his 40 yard piledriver just fall wide.

And as Villa tried to turn their chances into goals, there was once again a huge question mark over the head of goalkeeper Scott Carson after he came out to Daryl Murphy's through-ball only to handle the ball outside his penalty area.

The incident appeared to go unnoticed by referee Howard Webb but left the visiting Wearsiders fuming, particularly when their side missed a chance of their own to go ahead after O'Donovan headed wide in the 26th minute when it would have been easier to score.

Carson was an England international just four months ago, but is currently having a nightmare run and almost gifted Sunderland the ball as he attempted a long-range kick. He was fortunate his effort just made it to Nigel Reo-Coker, or he might have been in for some real torment from the visiting fans.

The last time these two sides met, at the Stadium of Light, Villa enjoyed a share of the points thanks to a Shaun Maloney free kick but, after former Villa loanee Phil Bardsley brought down Carew, the Irishman again discovered there was to be no repeat of those heroics on this occasion.

With Craig Gordon - a one-time Villa target - stealing the plaudits in the battle of the goalkeepers, Sunderland began to settle and again had reason to feel aggrieved when referee Webb missed a hand-ball - this time by Reo-Coker in the Black Cats' penalty area.

Keane may be one of the league's least experienced managers but whatever he said to his team at half-time worked as they came out strongly with former West Bromwich Allbion man Kieran Richardson almost opening the scoreline with a 25 yard effort.

Agbonlahor then saw a chance fly across the face of goal before O'Neill answered the Holte End's calls by introducing Marlon Harewood into the fray. At once, he made his usual impact with a fine right-footed shot which just shaved Gordon's upright in the 58th minute. Then, he executed as a neat one-two with Carew, but again the shot ended up in the stands rather than in the back of the net.

Yet if Villa need target practice, then Sunderland substitute Grant Leadbitter surely needs a month's boot camp. His shot not only missed the target but ended up flying out of play for a throw-in - a feat he probably could not repeat if he tried.

He then got a lesson in finishing from fellow substitute Michael Chopra, whose shot from 12 yards ended up in the bottom right-hand corner of Carson's goal after the Villa No 1 had once again hesitated after sloppy marking from Zat Knight.

The 83rd-minute goal brought the Sunderland fans to life as they realised they had finally broken their duck on the road. Meanwhile, the Villa stands, which had been packed to the rafters, were already thinning.

O'Neill has warned all season that supporters should not get carried away but the results until three weeks ago had had everyone reaching for their passports. Villa's chances of a direct route to Europe are now diminishing but the manager refused to write them off completely.

He said: "That was very disappointing. We went out there knowing Portsmouth had been beaten by Tottenham and we should have done better. It was our responsibility as the home team to attack and make it as entertaining as possible but that was a nervous perfomance.

"If you do get a nervous perfomance, you still have to make sure you win it and we didn't do that. We have got ourselves into this predicament and we have got to do something about it now."

Scorers: Chopra (83).
ASTON VILLA: (4-4-2) Carson, Gardner, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Young, Reoc-Coker (Harewood, 57) Barry, Maloney (Osbourne,73), Agbonlahor, Carew. Subs: Taylor, Salifou, Petrov.
SUNDERLAND: Gordon, Bardsley, Nosworthy, Evansm Collins, Edwards (Leadbitter, 77) Reid, Whitehead, Rich-ardson, Murphy, (Yorke, 86), O'Donovan (Chopra, 59). Subs: Fulop, Prica.
Referee: Howard Webb, (Yorkshire).
Booking: Sunderland - Bardsley, O'Donovan (fouls).
Attendance: 42,640.