If the sign of a successful team is to play badly and win, then Aston Villa look like becoming Premier League champions. Pete Sixsmith reports on a frustrating afternoon and gives his view on those refereeing decisions

If there were a competition to find the most exasperating afternoon you have ever had at the Stadium of Light, Aston Villa would almost certainly figure in it.

Last season, Danny Collins saw a perfectly good winner chalked off by Steve Bennett. This year, Villa came, did an excellent impersonation of smash and grab raiders, and, with the help of Mike Dean, left with three undeserved points.

Let’s deal with Dean first. Generally, he had a rotten game and allowed Villa to foul at will in the first 20 minutes. Martin O’Neill is no angel (he signed Robbie Savage and turned him into a world class a***hole) and he knows that if fouls are passed on, referees are less likely to clamp down. So, in that first 20 minutes, no player committed more than one foul. And guess what? No Villa player was booked.

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It is to be hoped that Mike Dean enjoyed a safe and comfortable drive back to Merseyside yesterday evening after refereeing Sunderland v Aston Villa (though if, like Mike, we were betting men, we would wager that his impaired vision may make make driving a hazardous, stressful activity).

It is further to be hoped that is a long time before we see him in charge of a Sunderland game again.

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