Christian Benteke scored a potentially priceless hat-trick as Aston Villa avoided slipping into the Premier League relegation zone by drawing 3-3 at home to Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday.
After Matt Phillips put QPR ahead, a Benteke double gave Villa control, only for second-half goals from Clint Hill and Charlie Austin to leave QPR on the brink of a win that would have taken them out of the bottom three at their opponents’ expense.
But Benteke completed his treble with an inch-perfect 83rd-minute free-kick to take the Belgian striker’s tally to seven goals in five games and leave Tim Sherwood’s side three points above the bottom three.
“Christian Benteke was very good. The second goal especially was excellent,” said Villa manager Sherwood.
“We need him between now and the end of the season, but it was disappointing to give away scruffy goals.
“It might be a very important point. Only time will tell, but we need to win games. It is a point in the right direction though.”
Chris Ramsey’s QPR moved above Burnley on goal difference, but they are now two points from safety having played a game more than fourth-bottom Hull City.
“The point was better for them,” said Ramsey, who worked as Sherwood’s assistant at Tottenham Hotspur last season.
“We would have loved to have won the game and been above the line. Based on the performance in the second half, we are disappointed we have not got three points.”
Villa started brightly at Villa Park, but it was QPR who took a seventh-minute lead when Bobby Zamora’s feathered cross was headed in by Phillips.
However, Villa quickly forced the visitors back and drew level just three minutes later when Benteke was allowed to drift infield from the left and curled a shot past QPR goalkeeper Rob Green.
Green saved twice from 19-year-old midfielder Jack Grealish, making his first league start for Villa, and Sandro blocked from Ron Vlaar before Benteke put the home side ahead in the 33rd minute.
Gabriel Agbonlahor beat Sandro to the ball and freed Benteke, who eluded Hill and scored with his right foot.
Agbonlahor headed just wide from Leandro Bacuna’s cross shortly before half-time and with Villa continuing to dominate early in the second half, Ramsey took action by introducing Karl Henry and Armand Traore.
The changes had an immediate effect as within three minutes the visitors were level, with 36-year-old Hill claiming his first Premier League goal by heading in Phillips’s corner.
Twelve minutes from time, Phillips turned creator again, wriggling past Kieran Richardson and crossing for Austin to slam home his 17th goal of the league campaign.
But Benteke had the final say by bending a free-kick over the QPR wall and in off the post past the despairing dive of Green.
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Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
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Investors: Privately/self-funded
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
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Transmission: 6-speed auto
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On sale: now
Game Of Thrones Season Seven: A Bluffers Guide
Want to sound on message about the biggest show on television without actually watching it? Best not to get locked into the labyrinthine tales of revenge and royalty: as Isaac Hempstead Wright put it, all you really need to know from now on is that there’s going to be a huge fight between humans and the armies of undead White Walkers.
The season ended with a dragon captured by the Night King blowing apart the huge wall of ice that separates the human world from its less appealing counterpart. Not that some of the humans in Westeros have been particularly appealing, either.
Anyway, the White Walkers are now free to cause any kind of havoc they wish, and as Liam Cunningham told us: “Westeros may be zombie land after the Night King has finished.” If the various human factions don’t put aside their differences in season 8, we could be looking at The Walking Dead: The Medieval Years.
The Afghan connection
The influx of talented young Afghan players to UAE cricket could have a big impact on the fortunes of both countries. Here are three Emirates-based players to watch out for.
Hassan Khan Eisakhil
Mohammed Nabi is still proving his worth at the top level but there is another reason he is raging against the idea of retirement. If the allrounder hangs on a little bit longer, he might be able to play in the same team as his son, Hassan Khan. The family live in Ajman and train in Sharjah.
Masood Gurbaz
The opening batter, who trains at Sharjah Cricket Academy, is another player who is a part of a famous family. His brother, Rahmanullah, was an IPL winner with Kolkata Knight Riders, and opens the batting with distinction for Afghanistan.
Omid Rahman
The fast bowler became a pioneer earlier this year when he became the first Afghan to represent the UAE. He showed great promise in doing so, too, playing a key role in the senior team’s qualification for the Asia Cup in Muscat recently.
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
