Aston Villa 4 West Brom 3 - Match analysis and pictures

Villa's success in a breathless seven-goal derby probably settled the battle for regional supremacy and left Albion to face the war for survival.

But it was a victory effectively gifted them by a defensive performance that recalled the flimsiest days of Tony Mowbray but is unfortunately borne of these first days of Pepe Mel.

Much more of it and Albion's endless dance with misfortune this season will bring the ultimate fall; in contrast Villa, never wholly convincing but always carrying the destructive threat to unnerve the Baggies, are three-quarters along the road to safety.

All of this sprang from a hurricane of a game which was at its most unpredictable and dramatic in a pulsating first half before blowing itself out with its concluding, match-winning moment, a second-half penalty from Christian Benteke.

It was another big win for Paul Lambert which will do him the power of good in his own battle to silence critics. But bigger concerns are today with Mel, who must know he has got his team wrong at the moment.

And that principally means his inclusions of the unreliable Diego Lugano, last night preferred to Gareth McAuley, and a struggling Steven Reid, who is sadly in the final throes of his Premier League capabilities.

Whether Mel's adventurous designs to play a more high-tempo attacking game will turn the corner for Albion remains to be seen – but it will be seriously handicapped until he gets his team sorted out.

They could not have asked for more than the start crafted them by a midfield which continues to be the strongest and most effective weapon in the armoury.

Chris Brunt's left foot has been unlocking defences for his team-mates, but in the fourth minute he cut out the middle man.

Accepting a fourth-minute Liam Ridgewell free-kick, Brunt's first touch was not the best but his second was memorable, a sweet diagonal drive which seemed to accelerate the closer it got to its target to defeat a startled Brad Guzan.

And off we went on a riotous first half which held Villa Park spellbound by the kind of derby which went out of fashion with Christmas Day football.

Three minutes later, Albion were two up as Villa were caught napping at a free-kick. James Morrison's sudden dart forward was spotted by Brunt and the cross which followed deflected in off Fabian Delph's thigh.

If Villa were unlucky there, they enjoyed a stroke of fortune after 12 minutes. Claudio Yacob and Lugano got into a positional tangle which saw a grateful Andreas Weimann burst clear.

Beginning a man of the match performance which helped Villa overcome the absence of an injured Gabby Agbonlahor – and what he would have done to this Albion defence does not bear thinking about – Weimann popped the opportunity beyond Ben Foster with the composure of a man whose confidence was reborn.

Now Villa were up and running, invoking more high comedy at the back which ended with Leandro Bacuna converting Matt Lowton's cross in the 25th minute.

A third arrived before the break, a personal triumph for Delph but a worrying signal of vulnerability for Reid. He was left floundering by the midfielder's shuffle and step-over before Delph unleashed a venomous left-foot shot from a narrow angle to beat a surprised Foster at his near post.

Having been starved of entertainment for so long, Villa Park could not believe what it was seeing. But having viewed the worst of Albion, there was time to see the best before the interval.

A five-pass exchange down their right and involving Reid, Youssouf Mulumbu, Victor Anichebe and Morrison ended with Villa picked apart and Mulumbu clear to beat Guzan with a measured finish.

Sadly for the Baggies, they could find no repeat either side of the second half's key moment. A 63rd-minute cross from Lowton found Lugano clambering all over Benteke and the Belgian put away the spot-kick.

Shortly before that blunder, Lugano had headed agonisingly wide at point-blank distance from a Brunt free-kick.

But the reality for Albion was that, despite dominating the game thereafter, they were unable to fashion a further chance to retrieve it.

Martin Swain