Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka reacts on Instagram after dramatic Aston Villa defeat, praising team’s character

Granit Xhaka has issued a message to Sunderland supporters following the club’s dramatic 4-3 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.

The Black Cats were involved in one of the games of the Premier League weekend, fighting back from 3-1 down to level the contest at 3-3 deep into stoppage time through goals from substitutes Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor. With momentum firmly on their side, Sunderland had the chance to win it late on, only for Aston Villa to break forward moments later and snatch victory through Tammy Abraham.

It was a result that left players and fans alike frustrated given the nature of the performance, particularly after the character shown to haul themselves back into the game. Taking to Instagram after the final whistle, Sunderland captain Xhaka shared his reaction, writing: “Football… sometimes you love it and sometimes it hurts. Proud of our character. Let’s stay positive.”

Régis Le Bris also addressed the game’s decisive moment post-match, with Habib Diarra’s late chance proving pivotal. Sunderland had completed a remarkable comeback to make it 3-3 when Diarra broke through on goal in stoppage time, but his attempted chip was saved by Emiliano Martínez. Villa went straight up the other end and scored through Abraham to seal the win.

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Le Bris admitted the decision was not the right one, but backed the midfielder to learn from the moment. “We will have a conversation, because we always talk during the week after a game to understand what happened, his feeling, my feeling, and we can compare to go further,” Le Bris said. So this situation will be important, obviously, because it's a key moment, and he had the opportunity, it was in the right timing to run behind, but he probably didn't make the right decision at the end, and the goalkeeper is a good goalkeeper as well. So we will learn, I repeat, from this experience.”

With five games of the Premier League season remaining, Sunderland remain in the mix for a top-half finish, though their hopes of pushing into the European places have taken a dent following a painful defeat on the road.

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