There is no respite for Norwich City manager Chris Hughton. A week after victory over Tottenham Hotspur released the pressure valve, he succumbed to a chastening defeat that raises fresh questions about his future.
The sarcastic cheers and chants from the Norwich fans with more than 20 minutes remaining will not have escaped the attention of David McNally, the club’s grim-faced chief executive, and the rest of the Carrow Road board that were here.
Having taken the lead through Wes Hoolahan, the man they refused to sell to Villa in January, Norwich capitulated in alarming fashion during a remarkable 16-minute first-half spell when Paul Lambert's side struck four times. Christian Benteke scored twice – the first a sensational overhead kick – to take his tally for the season into double figures, Leandro Bacuna added a third and Sebastien Bassong, who endured a day to forget, scored an own goal four minutes before half-time to complete Norwich's misery.
Clear of the drop zone
It was Villa's first win in five games and will have been sweet for Lambert, given that it was against the club he left in such acrimonious circumstances. He is now unbeaten in five games against his former employers and has won the last four. More important for Villa fans is that they are up to 11th in the table and seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Norwich, in contrast, sit 15th, only four points above the bottom three and with a horrible run-in to come. When Gary Hooper sprinted clear in the 85th minute only to be denied by Brad Guzan it summed up Norwich’s day. By that stage the travelling supporters were asking for Lambert to “give us a wave” and mockingly singing “shot on target”.
It seemed strange to think that Norwich could not have wished for a better start. The game was only three minutes old when Hoolahan released Hooper on the right and continued his run to meet the striker’s cut-back with a sliding left-footed shot from no more than eight yards.
Villa looked short of confidence in those early exchanges and the home supporters were becoming restless but the complexion of the game completely changed from the moment Benteke brought parity with an exquisite equaliser.
Fine finishing
With his back to goal and Joseph Yobo marking him tightly, Benteke took Ron Vlaar's diagonal pass on his chest and executed a wonderful overhead kick, volleying powerfully beyond John Ruddy.
Norwich were still coming to terms with the moment of brilliance when Benteke scored a second less than three minutes later, the striker getting in front of Bassong to head Ashley Westwood’s corner past the hopelessly exposed Ruddy. There was a flicker of hope for Norwich in the 35th minute when Hoolahan broke through but Guzan kept out the first effort and Fabian Delph denied the midfielder’s attempt to head in the follow up.
The significance of that chance quickly became clear when Villa struck two minutes later with a brilliant counterattack. Karim El Ahmadi, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann combined to release Bacuna on the right. The fullback stepped inside Bradley Johnson and curled a left-footed shot into the far corner.
Norwich were in a state of disarray and worse was to follow. Delph, running onto Ryan Bertrand’s slide-rule pass in the space that opened up in the inside left channel, whipped a low centre towards the six-yard box that Bassong, under pressure from Agbonlahor, turned into his own net. Agbonlahor could, and should, have made it 5-1 early in the second half but his free header was straight at Ruddy. Guardian Service
