Villa thriller ... Gabriel Agbonlahor celebrates after scoring his team's opening goal. Source: AAP
Christian Benteke's late goal earned Aston Villa a priceless 3-2 win over fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers after a thrilling encounter at Villa Park
QPR bossed the first half with Jermaine Jenas giving the visitors the lead only for Gabriel Agbonlahor to draw Villa level right on the stroke of half-time.
Andreas Weimann put Villa ahead just before the hour mark, but QPR hit back to level matters on 73 minutes through Andros Townsend.
However, Benteke had the final word when he scored nine minutes from time to move Villa six points clear of the drop zone and leave QPR rooted to the bottom of the table.
After a nervous start from both sides QPR went close to breaking the deadlock after ten minutes only to be denied by a stunning save from Brad Guzan. Chris Samba got on the end of a free-kick and his header looked destined for the far corner, only for Guzan to produce a flying save to claw the ball out from under his own crossbar.
Seconds later Samba was again denied by Guzan as the ball dropped to the big defender inside the box and he fired in a shot which the American keeper again did well to tip over the crossbar.
QPR hit the front on 23 minutes with Jenas coming back to haunt his old club with his second goal in a week. Joe Bennett gave the ball away to Jenas and he played in Bobby Zamora down the left and, after his shot was kept out by the feet of Guzan, Jenas was on hand to slide home the rebound.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 29 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 38 | 74 |
| 2 | Man City | 29 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 25 | 59 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 29 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 54 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 28 | 15 | 7 | 6 | 26 | 52 |
| 5 | Arsenal | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 23 | 50 |
| 6 | Everton | 29 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 11 | 48 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 45 |
| 8 | West Brom | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 44 |
| 9 | Swansea | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 40 |
| 10 | Stoke | 30 | 7 | 13 | 10 | -8 | 34 |
| 11 | Fulham | 28 | 8 | 9 | 11 | -5 | 33 |
| 12 | West Ham | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | -9 | 33 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 29 | 9 | 6 | 14 | -10 | 33 |
| 14 | Norwich | 29 | 7 | 12 | 10 | -18 | 33 |
| 15 | Southampton | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | -10 | 31 |
| 16 | Sunderland | 29 | 7 | 9 | 13 | -9 | 30 |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 30 | 7 | 9 | 14 | -25 | 30 |
| 18 | Wigan | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | -22 | 24 |
| 19 | Reading | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | -22 | 23 |
| 20 | QPR | 30 | 4 | 11 | 15 | -22 | 23 |
QPR continued to call the shots and Zamora fizzed a free-kick from the edge of the box just wide before Loic Remy saw his curling effort tipped over the crossbar.
The visitors were inches away from doubling their lead right on the stroke of half-time when Jose Bosingwa saw his free-kick from the edge of the box come back off the post with Guzan well beaten.
Villa capitalised on the escape and equalised deep into stoppage-time at the end of the first half with Agbonlahor heading home Matt Lowton's cross from inside the six-yard box with their only noteworthy effort of the opening 45 minutes.
Villa looked a different team after the break and they turned the game on its head just before the hour mark when Weimann drilled home from the edge of the box after QPR failed to clear their lines from a corner.
QPR hit back and drew level on 73 minutes when Townsend saw his deflected shot from the edge of the box find the bottom corner after he was teed up by Park Ji-sung.
Villa grabbed the winner nine minutes from time when the impressive Weimann got to the byline before Julio Cesar and cut the ball back to Benteke to smash the ball home into the unguarded net.
Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert hailed his side's battling spirit as they bounced back from being outplayed in the first half to take a crucial three points.
Lambert noted: "I have to give my team a lot of credit. I thought 1-0 down was a bit harsh on us at times. Brad [Guzan] kept us in it with some terrific saves in the first half and we got the goal right at the death of the first half which was a big goal for us."
QPR chief Harry Redknapp was left to rue missed chances from his side as they dominated the first half but failed to turn their dominance into more goals.
"We should have been three or four goals up at half-time we were so much the better team it was almost embarrassing," said Redknapp.
Stoke City were unable to arrest their poor run of form after being held to a drab 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion at the Britannia Stadium.
Tony Pulis' side went into the game with only one win in ten matches and although they controlled the first half, they couldn't force a breakthrough.
West Brom assumed the ascendancy after the break, but despite a trio of chances falling to Romelu Lukaku, they too were unable to grab a winner.
Both teams failed to impress in a poor first half desperately short on quality. Stoke showed no end of energy and commitment, but they were totally bereft of penetration going forward and created chances only from high balls into the box.
The first came after four minutes, when Cameron Jerome scooped a header over and wide from the penalty spot after a cross from Matthew Etherington on the left wing.
West Brom then had the best chance of the half a minute later through Chris Brunt, but having been played through on goal following a slick passing move, the Northern Irishman fired his low, left-footed shot straight at Asmir Begovic.
The visitors persistently struggled to retain possession and spent much of the opening period on the back foot, albeit defending the barrage of crosses into the box stoutly.
They improved considerably after the break, though, and should have gone ahead within two minutes of the restart, when Jerome Thomas planted a cross straight on the head of Lukaku, only for the Belgian to head down and into the arms of Begovic.
The on-loan Chelsea forward then spurned an even better chance seven minutes later. This time it was the marauding Liam Ridgewell who found him with a pinpoint left-wing cross, but Lukaku failed to make contact with the ball and Marc Wilson gratefully cleared.
He still wasn't finished, though, because just after the hour mark Begovic deflected a James Morrison cross on to Lukaku's face and the ball rebounded just the wrong side of the post.
West Brom manager sent on Peter Odemwingie and the controversial forward twice drew saves from Begovic with shots from outside the box, before Wilson went close at the other end for Stoke with a header from a corner.
The hosts thought they had won it at the death when substitute Kenwyne Jones brilliantly collected a high ball on his chest and stabbed a shot goalwards, but man-of-the-match Ben Foster was right behind it.
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