Goals from John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor gave Aston Villa a 2-1 win over neighbours West Brom.
Carew and Agbonlahor on target in Villa win
Two goals in the space of a minute from John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor gave Aston Villa a 2-1 win over neighbours West Brom.
The visitors came close to breaking the deadlock a number of times before John Carew nodded Ashley Young's free-kick in off the near post leaving Scott Carson with no chance of a save.
Within 32 seconds later Villa had doubled their advantage when Leon Barnett made a hash of Young's long ball allowing Agbonlahor to gratefully collect and stroke home past Carson.
However, The Baggies responded and Brad Friedel will be disappointed with his part in the goal after letting Robert Koren's shot slip from his grasp giving James Morrison the chance to tuck home.
Although Tony Mowbray's side huffed and puffed in the second half they never looked like equalising while Carew twice missed out on adding to his tally after hitting the woodwork on two occasions.
Friedel saved a dipping 25 yard effort from Albion skipper Jonathan Greening away to his right as the home side knocked the ball around in confident fashion early on.
But they nearly paid the penalty when Agbonlahor was brought down by Gianni Zuiverloon 25 yards out. Ashley Young's floated cross picked out Carew whose powerful header flew only a couple of feet wide with Carson stranded to his line.
Early change
The Baggies were forced to make a change after 20 minutes when Chris Brunt limped out of the action to be replaced by Do-Heon Kim.
Then Villa took complete control with two goals inside 60 seconds from Carew and Agbonlahor.
Albion's vulnerability at free-kicks was finally exposed when Ashley Young's free-kick was again met by Carew - and this time the Norwegian international's header beat Carson via the post for his fourth goal of the campaign.
West Brom had not had time to recover from this setback before they fell further behind through Agbonlahor's fifth goal of the season.
Barnett was at fault in miscontrolling an Ashley Young pass which broke into the path of Agbonlahor and he drilled his shot across Carson from a narrow angle into the corner of the net.
After 34 minutes Morrison handed Albion a life-line with his second goal in as many games.
Villa 'keeper Brad Friedel was at fault in failing to hold onto a low 20 yard effort from Koren - and Morrison was alert to tuck in the rebound.
Morrison was booked for not retreating 10 yards at an Ashley Young free-kick and West Brom defender Paul Robinson was also yellow-carded for a challenge on Stiliyan Petrov.
Atoned
Friedel partially atoned for his error with a fine close range save to keep out a Kim header shortly before the interval.
The post twice denied Carew from adding to Villa's lead early in the second period.
The former Lyon striker timed his run perfectly to run onto Nigel Reo-Coker's pass and his cross shot clipped the far post although Carson had done well to narrow the angle.
But the ex-Liverpool player could only watch as a Carew header thumped against the post from a Luke Young centre.
West Brom boss Tony Mowbray made a double substitution with Ishmael Miller and ex-Villa striker Luke Moore replacing Bednar and Valero.
Moore came close to making an instant impact with a goal-bound shot blocked by Barry following a Greening centre.
| West Brom |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
2 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 5 |
Corners |
6 |
| 22 |
Fouls |
18 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.5 |
Passing Success |
67.4 |
| 23 |
Tackles |
22 |
| 78.3 |
Tackles Success |
90.9 |
| 62.1 |
Possession |
37.9 |
| 56.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
43.5 |
|
