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Aston Villa 4 West Brom 3: Christian Benteke nets winner in seven-goal thriller

by Simon Williams at Villa Park

It was a seven-goal thriller at the Villa as the side from the Second City came back from two goals down to secure a 4-3 win over local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

The visitors were two goals up within nine minutes, Chris Brunt scoring a stunning effort from 25 yards before Fabian Delph diverted a James Morrison cross into the back of his own net.

And with Villa having failed to win in their last six meetings against the Baggies, a run going back to December 2010, things looked ominous for the home side.

But two goals in 12 minutes from Andreas Weimann and Leandro Bacuna drew the scores level, before Delph smashed the ball off the underside of the bar from the edge of the area to give the home side the lead.

Youssouf Mulumbu made it 3-3 two minutes before the break but Christian Benteke secured only Villa's third League home win of the season by converting a second-half penalty after he was fouled by Diego Lugano in the area.

It was the first time since August 1973 that there has been seven goals between the two clubs. That game also finished 4-3 to the Villans.

"Two-nil down in any game after eight minutes is tough but in a derby it doubles because of the importance to the crowd," said Villa manager Paul Lambert after the game.

"The turnaround was absolutely fantastic - what a performance. You never lose faith in them that's for sure. There was only nine minutes gone, it was important we kept a level head and tried to get ourselves back into the game.

"We showed a lot of maturity in doing that and I think they grew up an awful lot by turning that scoreline around, especially against your rivals and that's the magnitude of it. I thought they were great."

The result left new West Brom manager Pepe Mel still searching for his first win and left his side in 15th place in the league, just three points above the relegation zone.

And when asked if he thought his side was now in a relegation fight, Mel replied: "Yes. But it is more important that we start work tomorrow in preparation for our next match (against Liverpool)."

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