Aston Villa escapes relegation zone with 3-1 win at Stoke
Paul Lambert’s team kicked off at the Britannia Stadium third from bottom of the Premier League and looked set for a frustrating draw after Gabriel Agbonlahor’s opener was cancelled out by Michael Kightly’s late equaliser.
Aston Villa improved their chances of avoiding relegation as they climbed out of the bottom three after a dramatic 3-1 win at Stoke City on Saturday.
Paul Lambert’s team kicked off at the Britannia Stadium third from bottom of the Premier League and looked set for a frustrating draw after Gabriel Agbonlahor’s opener was cancelled out by Michael Kightly’s late equaliser.
But young defender Matthew Lowton produced a stunning strike with three minutes remaining before a stoppage-time goal from Christian Benteke sealed a vital victory.
Villa are now three points above the drop zone, while slumping Stoke are only one point better off as their miserable run extended to one win in 13 games.
It could have been different had Stoke been awarded the penalty they wanted after barely two minutes when Jon Walters smashed the ball into Nathan Baker’s arm from close range.
Referee Mark Clattenburg deemed the contact unintentional, much to Potters boss Tony Pulis’ obvious disgust on the sidelines.
Stoke looked up for the fight at that point but their optimism was pierced after just nine minutes as Lowton and Jordan Bowery combined from a throw-in to cut through the home defence.