Aston Villa were forced to beat Sunderland twice as Tammy Abraham's 94th-minute finish earned a 4-3 win in a Premier League classic, moments after a stunning collapse had wiped out their two-goal lead in just 58 seconds.
The Villans had looked on course for a routine home win to all but seal their Champions League qualification for next season, leading 3-1 courtesy of two Ollie Watkins goals and a Morgan Rogers third with four minutes to play.
But once Trai Hume struck a powerful consolation after robbing substitute Jadon Sancho, the Man Utd loanee was again caught in possession seconds after the restart with Enzo Le Fee threading Wilson Isidor through to level and stun Villa Park.
There were always likely to be twists and turns between two teams who had won more points from losing positions than anyone else in the Premier League - though this was still a stretch.
Things could have become yet more inconceivable had Habib Diarra completed the turnaround when he raced through on goal but fluffed his lines with Emiliano Martinez getting a hand up to his attempted dink. "I'm not sure it was the best decision but it is what it is," was his manager Regis Le Bris' diplomatic take on the move.
There was still one final twist in the tail of one of the most topsy-turvy endings in Premier League history however, as Abraham's deft touch on a stunning deep cross from Lucas Digne beat Robin Roefs to restore Villa's lead in the 94th minute, with even head coach Unai Emery racing onto the pitch to celebrate.
"We played a fantastic match but the two goals in one minute, we lost our minds a little bit," Emery told Your Site after the game. "But how we reacted at 3-3 and scored the fourth goal was fantastic.
"Now we are going to rest, I will do my recovery tomorrow!"
It will take an even more almighty collapse than Villa Park witnessed on Sunday for the club to miss out on the Champions League now with a 10-point cushion over Chelsea in sixth, while Sunderland's own hopes of Europe took a painful but far from fatal blow - despite sitting 11th, they remain only two points behind the Blues.
Aston Villa captain John McGinn to Your Site:
"We were in control and had chances to go four or five up. Sunderland are a good team; they put you on the back foot. We have to manage the game better, we were in control.
"For it to go to 3-3, it is definitely something we are not happy with. You can easily lose a fourth. It's a great save by Emi [Martinez] and Tammy [Abraham] came on in difficult circumstances and notched a great finish.
"We're buzzing. We will be frustrated in there, we know we won the game but we've got high standards of ourselves as a group. It's in our hands [top five and Europa League], we can go and achieve things that Villa players haven't done for a long time.
"When you see the difference in two points that Tammy has added for us, it's huge for us. It wasn't perfect but who cares at the end of the day."
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery to Your Site:
"The Premier League is very difficult, to beat Sunderland - they had the opportunity and still do to be in the race for Europe.
"I am so, so happy with how we played. We are going to analyse deeply why we lost our minds in a few minutes only.
"The first half, we started so intense and dominated. The second half, I think was better. Scored the third and had chances to score the fourth. Overall, a lot of things very positive."
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris to Your Site:
"I'm a bit disappointed as we had the opportunity to win the game, with the one-on-one with Diarra and then we conceded the goal.
"We felt the power and strength of Aston Villa today, they created many chances.
"We did not start well, first and second half. When you concede after half-time, it is always difficult. At 3-1, with one goal, you can change the dynamics.
"We are learning. Step by step, it is not a good result at the end."
