Aston Villa moved up to 11th in the Premier League table after beating Norwich 4-1 this afternoon at Villa Park. Wes Hoolahan had given The Canaries and early lead just 3 minutes into the game, but Villa found 4 goals in just 15 minutes in a ruthless and exciting first half. Christian Benteke got two just two minutes apart, including a stunning volley, before Bacuna and a Bassong own-goal gave Villa the points.
Christian Benteke won the Man Of The Match for Villa, and after the game his team mate Ron Vlaar spoke to SkySports,
“It’s a massive win for us. Norwich won against Tottenham last week so they were in a good mood, but we managed to stop them today. We still need a lot more points but this is a good start. All the chances we had in the first half was a goal. I don’t think we started that well but we turned it around with Christian [Benteke] getting his goals and showing us what he is capable of.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert also spoke to the press after the match,
“We’ve been threatening to do this over the last few weeks. We obviously had a terrible start but all credit to the team for roaring back as they did. The lads keep on going and all the goals were fantastic, obivously Christan’s [Benteke] bicycle kick was just spectacular but the team goal for the third was brilliant too.”
This result obviously puts Norwich boss Chris Hughton back under some major pressure, with this result being the complete opposite of that 1-0 win over Tottenham last week, he also had a few words to say after the match,
“For 25 minutes I thought we played very well. We quietened the crowd and then in that 15 minutes we couldn’t handle them. We had a bad period and then obviously in most cases it is difficult to come back from 4-1 down. We should’ve defended better. You can’t allow them to play balls into Christian Benteke. As defenders they have to deal with it, it’s part and parcel of the game. As a team, even at 2-1 down we have to keep our heads up and make sure we stay in the game. But we didn’t, their power took over and there’s no coming back from 4-1 down. It’s a mountain to climb.
SkySports pundit and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher thinks that today’s key victory for Villa means they should be safe from relegation for another season,
“Benteke’s pace and finishing last year kept them up and I think the two he got today will make the difference. That’s seven points between the bottom and Villa now, and I imagine they’ll pick up at least another five or six points between now and the end of the season. The teams at the bottom aren’t picking up the victories to bridge that gap.”
By Ben Kelly
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