West Bromwich Albion suffered yet another close defeat as they were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa at the Hawthorns Stadium on Sunday.

Villa had looked on course for a comfortable victory after John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor scored in space of two minutes to put the visitors in a 2-0 lead. However West Brom fought back to reduce the deficit through James Morrison 12 minutes before the half time whistle and though the hosts were the better team in the second half Villa hung on to claim all three points from the clash.

Having won their last two away matches, Villa started the game brightly but though they dominated the possession in the early stages of the match, they were unable to break past a stubborn West Brom defense until the 27th minute when they were gifted a goal as Carew easily evaded a challenge from Leon Barnett before heading past a helpless Scott Carson to break the deadlock.

Barnett was once again at fault a minute later as he failed to clear Ashley Young's cross, leaving Agbonlahor with a simple finish from close range. Villa threatened to run away with the match but West Brom hung on and managed to get one back in the 33rd minute when Morrison was the first to react to a spill by Brad Friedel and slotted home from six yards out. The hosts came close to equalizing before the half time whistle when Do-Heon Kim saw his header saved brilliantly by Friedel.

Carew should have had put the result beyond doubt at the start of the second half when he twice managed to hit the post. West Brom tried to step up the pressure in search of an equalizer but it was Villa who went close to scoring a third goal through Reo-Coker as they secured their third away win in less than a week.