Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke scored a second-half hat-trick to lead his side to a crushing 6-1 win over Sunderland last night that gave them a massive lift in their battle for Premier League survival.

Villa captain Ron Vlaar broke the deadlock after 31 minutes, rifling a low shot from 30 yards into the corner of the net.

The home side’s lead lasted less than a minute, however, as Sunderland defender Danny Rose slotted a composed finish past Brad Guzan.

Villa regained the lead six minutes later when Matthew Lowton’s cross was finished from 12 yards by forward Andreas Weimann.

Benteke grabbed his first by heading in a rebound and he struck again with another powerful header.

The Belgian striker completed his hat-trick with a cool finish and Gabriel Agbonlahor completed the rout two minutes from time.

Villa moved to 16th place on 37 points with three matches left, five ahead of third-bottom Wigan.

Sunderland, who had Stephane Sessegnon sent off after 70 minutes, and Newcastle also have 37 points.

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