Christian Benteke scored the only goal to give Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace this evening, ending a run of three straight defeats in the Premier League for Paul Lambert's side.
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Palace tried to put the pressure on from the start as Wilfried Zaha hoped to make the most of his inclusion in the starting lineup, but was denied a penalty after taking a tumble early on.
Mile Jedinak tried to test Brad Guzan in the Villa goal, attempting to head in from a cross, but his finish lacked power and was easily gathered by the keeper.
The visitors started to see more possession as the half-hour mark approached, and they took the lead when Benteke stole the ball in midfield before drilling it in low from the edge of the box.
Yannick Bolasie tried to get Palace back on level terms as the half-time whistle approached, but Guzan got down low to make sure his driven effort did not find the back of the net.
The home side were on the attack again early in the second half as they sought an equaliser, but Marouane Chamakh sliced his finish wide under pressure.
Villa created little immediately after the restart, although they had a chance to double their lead with just over 20 minutes to play as Andreas Weimann tried a low drive, but Julian Speroni watched it all the way.
Palace kept heading down towards the Villa goal in a bid to earn a share of the points, but Villa defended well to make sure that Guzan had little to do between the posts.
The win ends a run of nine matches stretching back to September without a win for Villa, and moves the team up to 12th in the table, while Palace sit 15th.
Sian Cowper
