London, England

Belgian striker Christian Benteke recorded a hat-trick in the second half to carry Aston Villa to a 6-1 victory over Sunderland Monday at Villa Park, moving five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

The win, its biggest since 2008, moved Villa five points above 18th-placed Wigan, whom it will face on the last day of the season. Villa also tied Sunderland with 37 points each while Wigan has 32 points.

"Benteke's been absolutely world-class. For somebody who has just come to this country, he's been absolutely brilliant," Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert said of Benteke.

"A great compliment for him is that I've always said he is a real, humble guy and if he keeps that, and keeps his feet on the ground, and keeps working hard, he can be anything," he added.

Lambert made one change after his side's defeat to Manchester United a week earlier with Yacouba Sylla replacing Charles N'Zogbia.

Sunderland, for its part, brought in Phil Bardsley for Jack Colback and Craig Gardner returned from suspension with James McClean making way.

Gabriel Agbonlahor had a chance to put Villa ahead early when he picked up the ball 35 yards from goal but his kick went wide.

Both teams came to life after 30 minutes of action when Villa captain Ron Vlaar recovered the ball 30 yards from goal after Ashley Westwood's shot was blocked and hit a marvelous strike into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal in the 31st minute.

However, Danny Rose countered one minute later when he drove into the box and placed placing his shot beyond the outstretched arm of Brad Guzan.

Andreas Weimann slotted Villa's second goal in the 38th minute before Benteke took over in the second half to blow Paolo Di Canio's side away.

Benteke buried his first of three goals in the 54th minute when he recovered Agbonlahor's blocked attempt and hit it past Simon Mignolet for a 3-1 advantage.

Five minutes later, Benteke added a second goal and completed the trifecta in the 72nd minute. Agbonlahor completed the rout with a score in the 88th minute.