Updated at 17.19
ASTON VILLA HAVE goalkeeper Brad Guzan to thank for their first clean sheet in 26 Premier League fixtures as they claimed a 1 – 0 victory away to Norwich City this afternoon.
Libor Kozak scored the only goal of the game in the 30th minute after his initial shot was saved he turned Gabriel Agbonlahor’s follow-up pass cooly inside the far post.
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By then Guzan had already guessed correctly to bat away a Robert Snodgrass’ penalty, but the best was yet come as the American pulled off a stunning save when the Canaries finally looked like they would make the breakthrough when Gary Hooper’s miscontrolled the ball towards the top corner.
Striker Christian Benteke hobbled off the field with an apparent groin injury – Kozak came on as his replacement to make an instant impact – but manager Paul Lambert was upbeat on his star’s fitness.
“I think he’s not too bad,” Lambert told BT Sport after the game.
“I think he actually slipped, that was the initial injury. We’ll see how he is, but I’m delighted for Libor to score his first goal. That’s why we bought him, in case Christian got an injury.”
Meanwhile, Everton now trail their city rivals by only a point after Romelu Lukaku scored on his debut to settle a thrilling game at Upton Park and help preserve the last unbeaten record in the division.
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West Ham twice took the lead, via a deflected shot from Ravel Morrison and a Mark Noble penalty, only for Leighton Baines to level on each occasion with a pair of sensational free-kicks from 25 yards.
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Noble was then sent off for a rash foul on Ross Barkley before Lukaku bravely headed home an 85th-minute winner in his first game since signing on loan from Chelsea.Another on-loan striker, Loic Remy, scored twice on his first home start for Newcastle United, but the Frenchman still finished on the losing side in a 3-2 defeat by Hull City.
His 10th-minute header was cancelled out by Robbie Brady, who teed up Ahmed Elmohamady for a second equaliser early in the second period after Remy had curled home a second goal on the cusp of half-time.
Sone Aluko settled the match in memorable fashion with 14 minutes remaining, meeting George Boyd’s left-wing cross with a sumptuous volley that crashed into the net off the right-hand upright.
Stephane Sessegnon came back to haunt his former club Sunderland by scoring the opening goal in a 3-0 win on his debut for new side West Bromwich Albion.
A deadline-day signing from Sunderland, the Benin midfielder pounced in the 20th minute, before late goals from Liam Ridgewell and Morgan Amalfitano completed victory.
Sunderland remain rooted to the foot of the table and manager Paolo Di Canio’s misery was compounded when striker Steven Fletcher appeared to dislocate his shoulder.
English Premier League results on Saturday:
Liverpool 0 Southampton 1 (Lovren 53)Newcastle 2 (Remy 10, 44) Hull 3 (Brady 26, Elmohamady 48, Aluko 76)
Norwich 0 Aston Villa 1 (Kozak 30)
West Brom 3 (Sessegnon 20, Ridgewell 76, Amalfitano 90) Sunderland 0
West Ham 2 (Morrison 31, Noble 76-pen) Everton 3 (Baines 62, 83, Lukaku 85)
Additional reporting by AFP
First published at 14.59