CHRISTIAN BENTEKE HIT the winner as Aston Villa claimed victory in a seven-goal thriller against West Brom tonight.

A pulsating West Midlands derby saw six goals registered in the first-half as the teams went in drawing 3-3 at half-time. There was the only one goal scored after the break but it was a vital one when Benteke converted from the penalty spot.

West Brom surged into an early 2-0 lead through Chris Brunt’s superb 25-yard effort and Fabian Delph’s own goal.

Aston Villa were left reeling at conceding twice in the opening nine minutes but then they surged back into contention. Andreas Weimann netted in the 12th minute and Leandro Bacuna levelled the game in the 25th minute.

Then Delph made amends for his earlier own goal by putting Aston Villa ahead with a 37th minute goal. The first-half drama wasn’t over yet with Youssouf Mulumbu scoring for West Brom to make it 3-3 at half-time.

The decisive goal arrived in the 64th minute when Benteke was fouled by Diego Lugano and he dusted himself down to send Ben Foster the wrong way from the penalty spot. The goal was the Belgian’s third in three games for Aston Villa and helps them move up to 10th in the table while West Brom remain 15th.

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