Christian Benteke single-handedly dragged Aston Villa out of their nine-game winless streak, securing a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.

Benteke sidefooted the winner in a low-quality Premier League encounter at Selhurst Park to mark his return from a three-match ban for his red card against Tottenham.

The Belgian hitman was dubbed ``one of the best strikers in Europe'' by Villa boss Paul Lambert in midweek, but the 23-year-old never had to reach that billing to decide this tie.

Palace slipped to their fifth defeat in eight games and had only themselves to blame, wasting countless half-chances in a fruitless search for a quality final ball.

Villa moved three points ahead of the Eagles in the table, sucking Neil Warnock's side further into what could yet become one of the most widely-fought Premier League relegation scraps in years.

Benteke gave Villa their first win since a 1-0 victory at Liverpool on September 13, atoning in part for his reckless dismissal against Spurs as his calm finish punctuated the otherwise staccato style of Palace's disjointed first-half attacks.

Time and again Zaha broke into the final third, only to slug a sledge-hammer boot through the ball when any deftness of touch would have unlocked Villa's shaky defence.

Palace backed up their 3-1 victory over Liverpool with a reasonable 1-1 draw at Swansea at the weekend, but could not find any spark on a chilly night this time.

The strike came when Scott Dann needlessly chased a lumped ball out to the wing, deserting his central post -- and Benteke picked his pocket.

He sauntered infield as far as the edge of Palace's area without bringing a challenge, because Brede Hangeland inexplicably backed off, and had time and space to pick his spot.

Palace boss Warnock has picked up the slack admirably since Tony Pulis walked out on the eve of the season, but here was a goal that would never have materialised in the ex-Stoke manager's tenure.

Only their profligacy kept them scoreless at the break, and a half-time rollicking from the boss failed to see them generate a clear-cut second-half chance.

Their attempts to level grew ever more desperate as time ticked down, and the final whistle brought resounding boos from a home crowd as dissatisfied as Warnock.