Villa end scoring drought, but still cannot win

They finally score in the Premier League but can only draw 1-1 with 10-man Sunderland

Premier League - Sunderland v Aston Villa - Stadium of Light, Sunderland, Britain - Sept 21, 2025 Sunderland's Noah Sadiki in action with Aston Villa's Matty Cash Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

Aston Villa finally registered a Premier League goal at the fifth time of asking but a victory remained elusive as they could only draw 1-1 at 10-man Sunderland on Sunday.

Unai Emery's side were the only team in the top seven divisions in England without a goal ahead of the clash and were hoping to avoid becoming the third team in top-flight history not to score in their first five games.

Matty Cash ended the drought to put his side ahead in the 67th minute with a swerving 25-metre effort.

But despite being a man down following Reinildo's red card in the 33rd minute, Sunderland created more chances than Villa and were only behind for eight minutes.

Granit Xhaka's headed pass found Wilson Isidor and he finished with his right foot.

Villa threatened in the latter stages with Harvey Elliott missing a chance and Ollie Watkins an even better one when he failed to connect properly with Jadon Sancho's cross.

Sunderland moved to seventh place with eight points while stuttering Villa climbed one spot to 18th with three, but are still in the bottom three.