After Chelsea were beaten by Manchester United on Saturday, Villa moved 10 points clear in the top five qualifying places, but almost threw away a two-goal lead in doing so.

Ollie Watkins continued his rich vein of form with a pair of goals either side of 18-year-old Chris Rigg’s equaliser for Sunderland, which will further help his case for a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup plans this summer.

Watkins was left out of Tuchel’s squad for England’s matches back in March but few would now ignore his contribution over the last month after scoring six goals from his last five games.

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Villa made a lightning start to the second period too, and Morgan Rogers ended a run of seven Premier League matches without a goal by putting his name on the scoresheet to double Villa’s advantage.

However, drama ensued at Villa Park as Sunderland got themselves on level terms out of nowhere with late goals from Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor which were separated by just 58 seconds, before substitute Abraham jumped off the bench to save the day.

Sunderland missed the chance to climb as high as sixth while Villa put one foot inside Europe’s top club competition next season.

Villa put the Black Cats on the back foot straight away and set John McGinn away down the right who dinked a ball towards the back post and Watkins gladly nodded in from a couple of yards after just 98 seconds.

The visitors were only behind for six minutes before they pulled level as a cross sent into the box fell by the way of Noah Sadiki, who laid it off for Rigg who bent one past a diving Emiliano Martinez and into the far corner for his first Premier League goal.

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The crossbar stopped Villa from retaking their lead in an all-action first quarter after McGinn’s corner picked out the leaping Amadou Onana who bulleted a header onto the upright.

Villa were then back in front a little under 10 minutes before the break.

The goal came courtesy of a spell of brilliance from Rogers who bamboozled Nordi Mukiele and whipped a ball into Watkins who headed in his second of the match.

Much like the first half, Villa made a quick start to the second and doubled their advantage exactly 60 seconds after the restart.

McGinn dispossessed Reinildo Mandava and set Villa away, he passed to Watkins who returned the favour from his earlier goal by laying it into the path of Rogers who dispatched expertly past Robin Roefs.

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As commanding as Villa were, they had to be aware of threat down the other end as well, Martinez was twice needed to stop efforts on goal from Brian Brobbey and Enzo Le Fee.

Villa looked comfortable but Jadon Sancho lazily gifted Sunderland a route back into the match by losing possession to Hume who bent into the top right corner.

And they were on level terms a minute later when Isidor latched onto a through ball from Le Fee and finished beyond Martinez.

The visitors were punished after Martinez stopped Habib Diarra’s chipped effort from one-on-one range, as Villa went down the other end and snatched all three points when Abraham poked home from Lucas Digne’s cross in added time.