(MENAFN- Arab Times) SUNDERLAND United Kingdom March 14 (AFP): Aston Villa's Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor both scored twice in a 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland that left Black Cats boss Gus Poyet fighting to save his job on Saturday. Villa who had scored only four Premier League goals away from home all season doubled their tally inside 44 minutes at the Stadium of Light to climb above Sunderland who drop to fourth bottom after six games without a win.
That left Poyet to face a gauntlet of hate as the former Chelsea midfielder was confronted by angry supporters close to his dug-out before the majority of the 45746 crowd the biggest of the season at home voted with their feet as they trudged away long before the final whistle. Villa's third successive win two of them in the league after seven consecutive defeats eased Tim Sherwood's men six points clear of the relegation zone and maintained the feelgood factor after they reached the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend. Given the game kicked off with no Premier League side having scored fewer goals than Villa and Sunderland their closest rivals for that dubious honour the prospect of a thrill-a-minute encounter was a distant one. However inside 44 soul-sapping minutes for Sunderland rampant Villa had left the hosts in tatters. Villa had not scored on the road in the league since Benteke's strike at Crystal Palace on December 2 but they remedied that situation inside 16 minutes on Wearside when Charles N'Zogbia flicked the ball around full-back Patrick van Aanholt to Leandro Bacuna. He charged upfield before squaring for Belgium international Benteke to side-foot past Costel Pantilimon with the help of a slight deflection off John O'Shea. A mass walk-out which had started after the second goal grew in size and several fans had to be led away by stewards after heading towards the dug-out to berate Poyet. But their pain was far from over and Benteke extended the lead a minute before the break when he powered a header home from another Bacuna cross. Palace 3 QPR 1 In London Crystal Palace pushed QPR deeper into the relegation mire with a 3-1 victory over their London rivals at Selhurst Park on Saturday. Alan Pardew's side swept into a three-goal lead by half-time thanks to strikes from Wilfried Zaha James McArthur and Joel Ward. Matt Phillips produced one of the goals of the season in the closing stages but the winger's brilliant drive from at least 40 yards out came too late to spark a QPR fightback. QPR's fourth successive Premier League loss extended their miserable run to nine defeats in their last 10 games leaving the west Londoners third bottom and three points from safety. While QPR have shown no signs of improvement since Chris Ramsey replaced Harry Redknapp as manager in February Palace have been in the ascendency since Pardew took over from Neil Warnock. The Eagles look certain to retain their top-flight status for another season after moving 11 points clear of the bottom three. Shaun Wright-Phillips made his first Premier League start in more than two years but the 33-year-old's presence failed to spark an improvement from QPR. West Brom 1 Stoke 0 In West Bromwich West Bromich Albion moved comfortably clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Stoke City at the Hawthorns on Saturday. A first-half strike from Brown Ideye sufficed to give all three points to the Baggies who were in command early on only for Stoke to dominate the latter stages of the match. West Brom coach Tony Pullis could have been forgiven for having mixed sentiments before the match having spent eight successful years at Stoke. But his men piled on the pressure from the start Stiphane Sessegnon and Saido Berahino both having early shots at goals. The Baggies deservedly took the lead after 19 minutes when Ideye rose above the Stoke defence to power a Craig Gardney cross into the bottom left corner of the net. Darren Fletcher and Berahino both came close to doubling the home side's lead before Peter Crouch blasted one over as Stoke tried valiantly to get back into the game. West Brom had kept five clean sheets in their last six home games at The Hawthorns underlining the size of the task facing Mark Hughes' men in the second half. Leicester 0 Hull 0 In Leicester United Kingdom Leicester remain anchored to the bottom of the Premier League after failing to overcome 10-man Hull in a goalless draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. Nigel Pearson's side are seven points from safety after their seventh successive league game without a win. The visitors maintain a five-point cushion above the bottom three and could have claimed the win despite the controversial second-half sending off of midfielder Tom Huddlestone. With games running out to save their Premier League status the home team began at a high tempo but lacked the cutting edge to trouble Hull keeper Allan McGregor. The visitors gradually began to settle and had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring after 20 minutes but Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic somehow fluffed his lines tripping over his own feet in front of an open goal. Neither team were able to take charge of the game with Leicester the next to threaten through a rapid counter-attack which ended when Algeria forward Riyad Mahrez played the wrong pass in a two-on-one situation. The Foxes came even closer shortly after the half-hour when Mahrez whipped over an inviting cross to the far post where club record striker Andrej Kramaric was waiting but the Croatia forward inexplicably decided not to dive for the ball which flew harmlessly across the goalmouth. The home team started the second-half in the same positive mood and threatened the goal again when Argentine veteran Esteban Cambiasso had a goal-bound shot blocked following good play by midfielder Matthew James. Jelavic had a chance to atone for his earlier embarrassing miss when he rose to meet Uruguay midfielder Gaston Ramirez's corner but planted his header just over the crossbar. The referee then took centre stage and handed the home team a huge boost when he issued a questionable second yellow card to influential Hull midfielder Huddlestone after a coming together with striker Jamie Vardy. Wide man Jeffrey Schlupp nearly exacted further punishment from the resulting free-kick but was denied by his own teammate Leonardo Ulloa who accidently blocked the goal-bound effort. The home team piled on the pressure in search of a vital winner and David Nugent nearly provided it when he flicked just wide from Vardy's pull back. But it was Hull who came closest to snatching all three points substitute Abel Hernandez firing stright at Australian keeper Mark Schwarzer when clean through.
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