Aston Villa beat QPR 3-2 in a thrilling encounter

Birmingham: Aston Villa earned a crucial 3-2 victory over fellow relegation struggler Queens Park Rangers on Saturday after Christian Benteke settled a back-and-forth game with a winner in the 81st minute. The win lifts Aston Villa provisionally six points clear of the relegation zone and leaves QPR rooted to the bottom, seven points from safety with eight games remaining.

QPR took the lead through Jermaine Jenas in the 23rd minute before the hosts equalized through Gabriel Agbonlahor on the stroke of halftime. Villa then went ahead through Andreas Weimann in the 59th before Andros Townsend pulled Harry Redknapp's team level again in the 73rd.

But Benteke then pushed the London club closer to the drop by turning in Weimann's cross.