Aston Villa notched their 300th Premier League win by
battling from two goals down to beat Midlands rivals West Brom 4-3 at Villa
Park.
A thunderous strike from Chris Brunt and a Fabian Delph
own goal inside the first 10 minutes seemed to have put West Brom well on their
way to three points on Wednesday.
Villa were reading from a different script, however, and
Andreas Weimann's lobbed finish in the 12th minute inspired the hosts, with
Leandro Bacuna equalising before the half-hour mark.
Against all odds, Paul Lambert's side looked set to take
a lead into the break as Delph scored in the correct goal this time, but
Youssouf Mulumbu levelled the scores again with a composed finish in the 43rd
minute.
West Brom coach Pepe Mel admitted in the build-up to the
game that he tried to sign Christian Benteke in his days at Real Betis and it
was the Belgium star who netted the winner when he converted a second-half
penalty to move Villa into 10th.
Matthew Lowton replaced the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor in
Villa's only change from the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in their last Premier
League outing.
Mel restored Mulumbu and Victor Anichebe to his starting
XI after missing out against Everton, replacing Zoltan Gera and Matej Vydra.
It took the visitors just four minutes to take the lead
and it came in style as Brunt lashed home a fearsome half-volley from 30 yards
out, giving Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan no chance.
Villa had a major struggle on their hands five minutes
later as a well-worked free-kick released James Morrison in the left side of
the hosts' area and Delph directed the eventual cross into his own goal.
The hosts responded almost immediately, however. Guzan's
long ball from the back was inadvertently flicked on by Diego Lugano, allowing
Weimann to drop the ball over Ben Foster and into the net.
Bacuna continued Villa's stunning comeback in the 25th
minute as he fortuitously sliced Lowton's low cross over the diving Guzan
before Delph made amends to score at the right end as he burst into the area
and unleashed an unstoppable drive eight minutes before the break.
There was still enough time for one more goal before
half-time as West Brom levelled the scores again, with Mulumbu confidently
slotting past Guzan following a delicate first touch.
Ten minutes after the break, Lugano missed a glorious
chance to give West Brom the lead as he headed Brunt's free-kick wide at the
back post and the Uruguayan played a big role in Villa's fourth goal in the
64th minute.
Lugano hauled down Benteke in the penalty area as he
jumped to reach a cross and the Belgian buried the spot-kick, scoring for the
third consecutive match.
Culled from Soccerway
