Aston Villa vs Everton match report: Christian Benteke inspires Villa to victory as Tom Cleverly scores crucial winner in survival quest
Aston Villa 3 Everton 2: Villa's lead looked in trouble when Romelu Lukaku puleld one back but Cleverley secure the victory
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Your support makes all the difference.Villa’s relief at the final whistle was plain to see. A couple of weeks ago they had looked safe, or as good as, in as much as the teams below them were showing little evidence of improvement. But then Leicester’s form took off, and latterly Hull’s too.
Defeat in this match, given that Leicester won again and even Sunderland found some fight to beat Southampton, would have left them in the bottom three, with three matches to go. It would not have been irreversible, given how closely the strugglers are grouped, but a setback nonetheless, psychologically at least.
Yet Villa came up with a display of high energy. Christian Benteke took his goal tally to 11 in his last nine games, while Tom Cleverley, having scored his first in 16 months against Manchester City, netted his second in a week.
Everton, much better in the second half after a flat showing in the first, scored from the penalty spot and grabbed a second deep into stoppage time. But the scoreline flattered them. “We are starting to looking like a Tim Sherwood side now, because we win, with pace, flair and we can score goals,” Villa’s manager said of his own influence. But he is taking nothing for granted.
“I’ve drove myself mad since I’ve been here, looking at fixtures and league tables, but if we don’t do our job we deserve to go down. We might have to win all three we have left.”
Benteke scored in the 10th and 45th minutes, outjumping Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka to head home Fabian Delph’s cross, then slamming the ball in at the far post, unmarked after Jack Grealish’s corner. Cleverley then took advantage of a Gareth Barry slip.
Ron Vlaar conceded the penalty from which Romelu Lukaku scored; Jagielka headed in off the bar in stoppage time after goalkeeper Shay Given complained that he was pushed. It sparked some anxiety momentarily, but the final whistle soon followed.
Line-ups:
Aston Villa: (4-1-3-2) Given; Bacuna (Hutton, 81), Okore, Vlaar, Richardson; Westwood (Sanchez, 75); Cleverley, Nzogbia (Cale, 89), Delph; Grealish, Benteke.
Everton: (4-3-3) Howard; Coleman, Stones, Jagielka, Baines; Naismith (Barkley, 75), Barry, McCarthy; Lennon, Lukaku, Mirallas (Osman, 75).
Referee: Mark Clattenburg.
Man of the match: Benteke (Aston Villa)
Match rating: 8/10
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