THOMAS SORENSEN admitted he had "made two sets of supporters happy'' with a remarkable reprise of his now-legendary penalty save against Alan Shearer.

Sorensen, who famously denied Shearer from the spot to seal Sunderland's 2-1 win on Tyneside almost three years ago, produced an identical stop from the Newcastle skipper as ten-man Aston Villa clung on for a 1-1 draw at St. James' Park. As he did before, Danish international Sorensen sprang to his left at the Gallowgate End of the ground to push away Shearer's effort.

But while Sorensen's latest heroics were no doubt celebrated as loudly among Sunderland fans at West Brom as they were Villa's travelling contingent, the man himself refused to gloat after piling on the agony for Shearer.

Sorensen, part of the great Stadium of Light sell-off in the summer following Sunderland's relegation, said: "I've got great respect for him.

"At the end, we just shook hands and he said: 'Well done.' I'm not the type of guy who is a Smart Alec. He's still the striker I hold in the highest esteem.

"But it's dj vu and I think I've made two sets of supporters happy.''

Sorensen insisted fortune had favoured him in his showdown with Shearer, but that he read the former England captain's mind when United were awarded the spot-kick ten minutes from time.

"On another day, he maybe could have scored two goals,'' said Sorensen. "He had a great header in the first half, a few half-chances and the penalty.

"If he took ten penalties, he might score eight. Of course, mind games come into it, and I could sense that he was putting a lot of thought into where he was going to strike it.

"On his run-up, I gave the left side a lot more chance than the right and it went for me. I wasn't trying to psyche him out - I was just trying to read his reactions and luckily it went my way.''

Villa boss David O'Leary believes the signing of Sorensen was "a steal''. He said: "Thomas has been a good buy. We felt we needed a keeper and, at £2m, I think he's a steal.''

Sorensen said: "I'm really settling in and we've got a good team spirit, which we showed here. We need to score a few more goals and if we do that, I can't see us staying in the bottom half too long.''

The Sunderland connection was strengthened in Saturday's often-volatile clash by the 72nd-minute sending-off of former Black Cats' midfielder Gavin McCann for a second bookable offence. The Villa camp felt McCann received a raw deal over his initial booking for a challenge on Lee Bowyer.

O'Leary bizarrely argued it was a case of mistaken identity by referee Matt Messias, but there were no complaints about the second yellow card for a foul on Laurent Robert.

McCann looked demented as he reluctantly left the field, and Sorensen said: "You can't blame him. He did really well and showed the same spirit he did for Sunderland. You could discuss his first yellow card, but the second one was clear.''