Aston Villa beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion as two goals in two minutes clinched a 2-1 victory yesterday.
Martin O’Neill’s side stunned Albion with a first-half double blast from John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor at the Hawthorns.
Albion hit back through James Morrison before the interval but Villa had done enough to move into fourth place in the Premier League.
While supposedly bigger clubs like Newcastle and Tottenham languish at the bottom of the table, O’Neill has quietly built an impressive team that looks capable of pushing for a top four finish.
Albion boss Tony Mowbray already knows his side are likely to face a long battle to avoid a quick return to the Championship and this result did little to allay his fears.
West Brom were forced to make a change after 20 minutes when Chris Brunt limped out of the action to be replaced by South Korea’s Kim Do-heon.
That was the signal for Villa to take control with a stunning two-goal blast in the space of two minutes.
Ashley Young’s 27th minute free-kick was met by Carew and the Norwegian targetman’s header beat Albion goalkeeper Scott Carson and bounced in off the far post for his fourth goal of the campaign.
Albion were rocked and they fell further behind in the 29th minute after a howler from Leon Barnett.
He made a complete hash of his attempt to control a long pass halfway between the penalty area and center circle and the loose ball broke into the path of Agbonlahor.
The England Under-21 international surged towards goal and squeezed a shot through his marker’s legs and into the far corner of Carson’s goal from a narrow angle.
Just as Villa seemed in total command, goalkeeper Brad Friedel gifted Albion a lifeline in the 34th minute.
Friedel should have been able to hold onto Robert Koren’s low, long-range strike but the American allowed it to squirm free and Morrison alertly buried the rebound.
It wasn’t enough to prevent West Brom from suffering their third league defeat leaving them 16th in the 20-team standings.
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