Aston Villa hit five past Walsall

Five days after plundering a first-half hat-trick in Aston Villa's 5-1 win over Crewe Alexandra, Christian Benteke starred once again as the Premier League side beat Walsall 5-0 in a pre-season friendly.

Former Leeds United midfielder Fabian Delph opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a low drive from 25 yards.

Gabriel Agbonlahor was Villa's biggest threat on the night and doubled the away team's lead just after the half-hour mark with a neat finish following a driving run at the heart of the defence.

Benteke scored his fourth goal in two games when he converted Andreas Weimann's cross, before being substituted along with Agbonlahor in the 61st minute.

Jack Grealish, a boyhood Aston Villa fan and just 18 years of age, scored his first goal for the club, as he raced clear and kept his composure before slotting the ball through the goalkeeper's legs to give the Villans a four-goal advantage.

However, the best goal of the game was saved until the 86th minute when Gary Gardner thundered a 30-yard free kick into the top corner.