Lowton stunner inspires Villa win

Absolute cracker ... Villa players help celebrate Matthew Lowton stunning volley. Source: Neal Simpson / AAP

Defender Matthew Lowton scores a candidate for goal of the season as Aston Villa boost their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over Stoke City at Britannai Stadium.

The 23-year-old has been a model of consistency for Villa throughout a testing campaign, but goals have never been part of his game.

He has, however, now netted on two occasions this season - and both have been pretty special.

Lowton's latest effort saw him crash a stunning volley past Asmir Begovic, turning a tight contest in Villa's favour and paving the way for Christian Benteke to wrap up the points with a third in stoppage-time.

Villa dominated the game but couldn't add to Gabriel Agbonlahor's ninth minute opener and nearly paid for their profligacy when Michael Kightly equalised for Stoke City late in the match.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	30	25	2	3	39	77
2	Man City	30	18	8	4	29	62
3	Tottenham	31	17	6	8	15	57
4	Arsenal	31	16	8	7	27	56
5	Chelsea	30	16	7	7	27	55
6	Everton	30	13	12	5	12	51
7	Liverpool	31	13	9	9	19	48
8	West Brom	32	13	5	14	-1	44
9	Swansea	32	10	11	11	1	41
10	Fulham	30	10	9	11	-3	39
11	Southampton	32	9	10	13	-7	37
12	West Ham	30	10	6	14	-9	36
13	Norwich	32	7	14	11	-19	35
14	Stoke	32	7	13	12	-11	34
15	Newcastle	31	9	6	16	-15	33
16	Aston Villa	32	8	9	15	-24	33
17	Sunderland	31	7	10	14	-10	31
18	Wigan	30	8	6	16	-20	30
19	QPR	31	4	11	16	-23	23
20	Reading	32	5	8	19	-27	23

But Lowton ensured Villa took the three points that lifted his side out of the relegation zone.

Reflecting on his wonder goal, Lowton said: "At the corner I just thought I would ring the box and if anything comes then I will help it back in. But after I've had my first touch and it sat up like it did, I thought why not hit it. Luckily it has flown in the back of the net.

"The one against Swansea wrong-footed the goalkeeper more than anything, but today it felt sweet when I hit it and it's actually beat the keeper. It was fantastic to see it hit the back of the net."

Villla boss Paul Lambert was delighted with the performance of his players afterwards, with his side having now claimed three wins in their last four to offer renewed hope in their bid to preserve their top-flight status.

"I thought we deserved it. I thought we were terrific in certain parts of the game. For the majority of the game I thought we were outstanding and I thought we thoroughly deserved to win the game," he said.

"And the three goals, especially Matty Lowton's - I don't think you will see a better goal in Europe, let alone Britain."

At Madjeski Stadium, Reading were pushed closer to relegation as Nigel Adkins's first home game in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat against his former club Southampton.

The Royals had their chances in the early stages but fell behind to Jay Rodriguez's 34th minute strike and Southampton never looked back as they sealed another impressive win.

Adam Lallana netted a second goal in the 72nd minute for Saints, who are now seven points clear of the drop zone, while Reading's battle for survival now appears doomed as they remain seven points adrift of safety with just six games to play.

Adkins, sacked by Southampton in January, was given a good reception by the fans of both teams as he acknowledged the crowd before the start of the game.

At Carrow Road, Norwich City continue to face a tense finish to the season after a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw with Swansea City left them looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone.

Naorwich edged a point further away from the drop zone courtesy of the draw but could be pulled back to within two points depending on Monday morning's (EST) results.

Michu had given Swansea the lead only for Norwich to come storming back either side of half-time through Robert Snodgrass and Michael Turner.

But Luke Moore then equalised for Swansea to ensure Chris Hughton's Norwich have now won just once in 15 Premier League games.

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