Norwich vs Aston Villa: 6 Things We Learned

Aston Villa came away from Carrow Road with three important points thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Norwich.

It was just Villa's second win of the season with defeats at the hands of Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle sandwiched in between the opening-day win over Arsenal and Saturday's win at Norwich.

But what did we learn?

Villa Can Win Without Christian Benteke

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Benteke—Villa's saviour from last season—was forced off through injury after half an hour and was replaced by summer signing Libor Kozak.

Benteke has netted 18 Premier League goals this calendar year—more than any other player—and with the Belgian scoring four of Villa's six goals this campaign, many were left wondering where the goals could come from.

But the fans need not worry as Kozak, who had been on the pitch just a matter of minutes, was able to turn home Gabriel Agbonlahor's smart centre to claim the game's winning goal.

Villa Can Keep a Clean Sheet

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One of Villa's main problems during their relegation-threatened 2012/13 campaign was that they shipped far too many goals.

The relatively youthful defensive line, despite the presence of experienced Dutch centre-half Ron Vlaar, were unable to cope with the Premier League's top strikers in their first season together and, quite often, the floodgates would open—the 8-0 drubbing to Chelsea springs to mind.

But Saturday's victory over Norwich brought about new hope. Villa kept a clean sheet for the first time in 27 games.

Brad Guzan Is One of the Top Penalty Stoppers Around

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Though Kozak scored for Villa, Guzan was the man to thank at the full-time whistle.

Ciaran Clark handled in the Villa box to concede a penalty with less than five minutes gone. But in typical Guzan fashion, the American stopper guessed right and foiled Robert Snodgrass from 12 yards.

Since his move from MLS side Chivas USA, Guzan has mad a name for himself as Villa's penalty king—saving four in Villa's match against Sunderland during their run to the League Cup final in 2009 as well as many others in recent years.

Carrow Road Is Paul Lambert's Fortress

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Villa boss Lambert upped sticks and left Norwich for the Midlands club just 15 months ago but he's already returned to his old stomping ground and won on three separate occasions.

Saturday's defeat was the closes Chris Hughton's men have come to overturning that dismal run.

They'll have to wait another year to accomplish that, but will look to get back to winning ways during their next fixture.

Clashes against Stoke, Chelsea and Arsenal don't make good reading for the Canaries, however.

After Three Solid Games, Antonio Luna Is No Longer Shining

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OK, it may be too early to say that, after two consecutive poor performances, Luna has already hit his Villa twilight.

“Tony Moon,” as referred to by a number of the Villa faithful started his career in impressive fashion, scored his side's third in their win over Arsenal on the opening day of the season before putting in impressive shifts against Chelsea and Liverpool.

The 22-year-old Spaniard was run ragged in Villa's home clash with Newcastle, however. Tormented by the ever-impressive Hatem Ben Arfa, Luna had a less-than-impressive day at the office and would have been glad when the referee blew the full-time whistle.

His performance against Norwich wasn't as disastrous, but the full-back still looked shaky throughout.

Villa Are a Much Better Side Away from Home

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Villa's only two victories of the season have come away from home—against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and, of course, against Norwich at Carrow Road.

Although the hosts had a lion's share of the possession during their clash—64 percent to be exact—Villa were able to play a more free-flowing style of football, similar to that of how they played against Arsenal and Chelsea.

But when Villa play at home, as they have done against Liverpool and Newcastle this season, they have looked, as strange as it may be to say, more like the away team.

They opt to pumping the ball long toward Benteke and hope something happens from there.

Against Norwich Lambert's men had phases were they almost untouchable, linking defence with attack through the impressive Fabian Delph and looking like a goal could come at any moment.