Benteke brace fires Villa survival hopes
Gomez spot on to give Sunderland hope
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom, May 2, (AFP): Christian Benteke continued his stunning resurgence with a brace as Aston Villa crept closer to Premier League safety by sinking in-form Everton 3-2 at Villa Park on Saturday.
The Belgium striker, revitalised since Tim Sherwood’s appointment as manager in February, scored twice in the first half for the FA Cup finalists to take his tally to 11 goals in nine games.
His international colleague Romelu Lukaku reduced the arrears with a penalty, but Tom Cleverley struck what proved to be the winner, with Phil Jagielka hitting back for Everton at the death.
Following victory in the 200th staging of the English top flight’s mostplayed fixture, Villa remain two points above the relegation zone, with Everton slipping to 11th place after a first defeat in seven matches.
Sherwood handed Shay Given a first league start since 2012, with Brad Guzan dropping out, but the veteran Ireland goalkeeper had little to do in the first half as the home team completely dominated.
Jack Grealish, Villa’s 19-year-old forward, had garnered glowing praise for his performance in the 2-1 FA Cup
In Swansea, Ki Sung-yueng came off the bench to sink 10man Stoke as the South Korea midfielder’s late strike sealed Swansea’s 2-0 win at the Liberty Stadium.
Ki was introduced as a 78th minute substitute with his side leading 1-0 through Ecuador winger Jefferson Montero’s goal just moments earlier.
The 26-year-old side-footed home for his eighth goal of the season two minutes into stoppage-time and that was enough to seal mid-table Swansea’s second successive Premier League win.
The win extends Swansea’s advantage over ninth placed West semi-final victory over Liverpool and his dead-ball prowess provided the bedrock for the hosts’ success.
After Grealish had troubled Everton with a corner that narrowly eluded Benteke and Ron Vlaar, Benteke made the breakthrough in the 10th minute by out-jumping Leighton Baines to head home Fabian Delph’s left-wing cross.
Villa continued to apply pressure and after Tim Howard had repelled a long-range Charles N’Zogbia freekick and Vlaar had come close to converting a corner from Grealish, they doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time.
Grealish was again the architect, whipping a corner into the box from the left, and Vlaar’s flick-on enabled Benteke to steer the ball into an empty net at the far post.
Everton did not muster a single shot on goal in the first half, but they rectified that statistic within three minutes of kick-off in the second period.
Lukaku drew a save from Given with a low effort after breaking clear and then got in front of Benteke to head over from the subsequent corner.
Shortly before the hour, Lukaku gave Everton a lifeline from the penalty spot, squeezing a shot past Given following a staggered run-up, after Vlaar clumsily felled Steven Naismith.
But against the run of play, Villa restored their two-goal advantage when on-loan Manchester United midfielder Cleverley emphatically converted Leandro Bacuna’s fine through- ball to register his second goal in a week.
Visiting captain Jagielka headed home from close range in injury time, but by then it was too late.
Sunderland 2, Saints 1 In Sunderland, two penalties by Jordi Gomez gave Sunderland’s hopes of retaining their Premier League status a boost on Saturday as they beat 10-man Southampton 2-1. Ham to six points with three games of the season remaining and the Welsh club look on course for their highest-ever Premier League finish.
Stoke offered precious little in attack and were reduced to 10 men for the first time in the league this season when Marc Wilson tripped Montero six minutes from the end to collect a second yellow card.
The first opportunity fell to Swansea when Montero crossed to the far post and Nelson Oliveira volleyed into the side netting.
Swansea lost Oliveira to injury but Neil Taylor made good progress down the left to deliver a cross which saw Nathan Dyer tee Jonjo Shelvey up for a shot which flew straight at Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.
Mark Hughes’ side replied as Steven N’Zonzi forced Lukasz Fabianski to tip over the crossbar.
Sunderland’s win — only their second in their last 11 Premier League games — didn’t see them climb out of the bottom three but they are just a point behind Hull and fourth from bottom Leicester, who thrashed Newcastle 3-0, and with a game in hand on the latter.
The signs weren’t good for the hosts at the outset as home fans didn’t pile in to support their ailing team, with plenty of spaces in the stands testament to their dissatisfaction with yet another relegation battle.
Those that were there went deathly silent early on when news filtered through that fellow strugglers Aston Villa had taken the lead against Everton.
They were cheering in the 20th minute, though, as former Wigan star Gomez converted a penalty to give them a 1-0 lead after the lively Danny Graham was unceremoniously bundled to the ground by Jose Fonte.
However, the home fans cheers were barely out of their mouths before Sadio Mane levelled as he tucked home the chance after Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon spilled the ball.
The hosts went close to restoring their lead before the end of the firsthalf but Kelvin Davis pulled off a superb fingertip save from Jermain Defoe’s header.
The hosts needed to raise the tempo and were almost rewarded for doing so in the second half when Marko Arnautovic slipped to present Angel Rangel with possession.
Rangel squared the ball to Gylfi Sigurdsson and the Iceland international rattled the crossbar from 20 yards.
It looked as if a draw was certain until the 76th minute when Shelvey crossed to the far post, where Montero beat Phil Bardsley to score with a diving header for his first goal in English football. Stoke’s Wilson saw red in the 85th minute and in the final moments Shelvey pulled the ball back for Ki to finish with aplomb.