Ex-Aston Villa goal machine, Christian Benteke, will return to Villa Park for the first time since his move to Liverpool this Sunday, in the Premier League clash.
The Belgian international was a huge success at Villa, and his goals were vital for three consecutive seasons, which aided Villa to avoid relegation in the league. Benteke bagged a tremendous record with his amount of goals for the Villans, with 19 goals in his first season, 10 in his second, and 13 goals in his third and final season. Even some Villa fans clarified him as a legend at the club because of his superb performances and crucial goals. His strength
His strength, power, and clinical finishing impressed a number of clubs and it was only time until Villa were forced to let the Belgian beast go. However, since his £32.5 million move to Liverpool, he hasn’t seemed the player he was at Villa, and since Jurgen Klopp arrived to replace Brendan Rodgers as manager, he has slowly been pushed out of the first-team line-up.
It is painful to see Benteke sitting on the bench for The Reds, and not performing to the standard he played at for Villa, and Aston Villa have missed him greatly since his departure back in the summer.
However, instead of piling more misery on Villa fans, I reflect on three classic moments Benteke made in the claret and blue shirt, which has to make the Villa faithful smile.
Aston Villa 6-1 Sunderland- Premier League- Monday 29th April 2013
The first season over in England for the Belgian, and the vital three points from this game, also was his first hat-trick for the centre-forward. Villa were two points off relegation before the game, and came up against relegation rivals Sunderland. However, you could say Villa seemed to turn up that day, and they didn’t just scrape a needed victory over relegation rivals, but they hammered them.
It was one of the matches of the season for the Villans, and they didn’t have many great moments either that season, as they hovered over the relegation zone. The Monday night game started with a bang, as Villa captain Ron Vlaar, let one fly from 25-yards, and the Villa fans went ecstatic as it drilled into the bottom corner. However, current Tottenham full-back dampened Villa’s spirits, as within two minutes of the restart Danny Rose equalised. In that season, Villa played on the counter-attack for large parts of it, and it worked once again as right-back Mathew Lowton intercepted an attempted switch of a pass from a Sunderland player, and he stormed into the Black Cats’ half. Lowton picked out Andreas Weimann, who coolly fired the ball into the far bottom corner, to put Villa back in front.
Second half, and Villa fans could just have named it the Christian Benteke half. The striker tore Sunderland to shreds with a 17-minute hat-trick. The first came from Agbonlahor’s long-range effort, which keeper Simon Mignolet parried away, and Benteke’s instinctive positioning gave him a simple header into the open goal. It was 3-1 at this point, and Villa fans were going ballistic, and would have taken that result then and there, but Benteke had other ideas, as he once again rose to head home an Ashley Westwood corner. Next, was his hat-trick, and a composed left-footed finish which curled around Mignolet’s legs made it 5-1, it was that simple.
A late Agbonlahor run opened up Sunderland’s defence, not for the first time on the night, and the local boy dribbled around Mignolet and tapped it home, to embarrass the Black Cats once more. Before the game, Villa fans wouldn’t have dreamt of such a massive result, but the Villa players played out of their skin that night, and it was a rare occasion where the Villa fans left the ground absolutely bouncing from their sides’ performance and result.
Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom- Premier League-Tuesday 3rd March 2015
A huge double-victory over rivals West Brom, changed Villa’s season, with a vital three points in the league, before beating the Baggies again at the weekend, in the FA Cup, to send the Villans to Wembley.
It was a magnificent week for Villa to complete a double over their rivals West Brom, but the last-minute winner from Christian Benteke in the mid-week league match, will be one of the most important goals he will ever score in his career. Not many Villa fans will ever forget that last minute penalty which Benteke slotted away. It was a huge winner for the season and avoiding relegation, but in the circumstances, the fact he netted in the dying minutes to beat Villa’s local rivals too, which put the icing on the cake.
Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool- FA Cup Semi Final-Sunday 19th April 2015
I’m not sure which moment was better for Villa fans, getting all the way to the FA Cup Final, or staying in the league, but either one they successfully completed both last season. Most Villa fans just seemed happy enough to get to Wembley and beat West Brom in the round before, but they must have felt over the moon when they reached the final on this day, and once again Benteke popped up and provided when Villa really needed him the most.
Brazilian playmaker, Phillipe Coutinho steered Liverpool in the lead, and looked like any hope for the underdogs was sunk, when he swept the ball past Shay Given on the 30th minute mark. However, it was that man again, Christian Benteke, who equalised within six minutes to put Villa right back in the game. Fabian Delph laid the ball off to Benteke who peeled onto the edge of the box, before side footing the ball straight into the far bottom corner.
Early second-half, and Benteke who has led the line so superbly for the Villans within his spell there, led it so well again here, and he held the ball up to backheel it into Jack Grealish’s path, who then slotted it into Fabian Delph’s feet, and he cleverly spun the defender the wrong way, Delph looked up, and you’ve probably already guessed it, he pinged the ball beyond the Liverpool goalkeeper and into the net. Villa fans erupted in the half they filled at Wembley. An unreal day for Aston Villa, and a season they will never forget, after nearly doing the double in their terms, as they escaped relegation and very nearly won the FA Cup.
