Player Ratings: Star players carry Aston Villa to key victory over Everton

For the fourth consecutive week, Aston Villa outplayed a team ahead of it in the Premier League table. But unlike last week's match at Manchester City, Villa took advantage of a quality performance to earn a crucial three points against Everton on Saturday.

Villa again conceded a few sloppy goals, but led by star striker Christian Benteke and captain fantastic Fabian Delph, the claret and blues picked up the victory by a 3-2 scoreline on a day where a raucous Villa Park cheered on the best home win of the season and the club's first home win over Everton since August 2010.

Based on a scale of 1 to 10 -- with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best -- here are the match ratings, along with stats and analysis, for the Aston Villa players from their 3-2 win against Everton.

GK: Shay Given, Rating: 6

The man who deserved to start in goal. Given was solid, making two confident saves and doing well with his claiming of crosses. Added needed composure to the team, largely because his kicking is night and day better than Brad Guzan's. Also was clearly fouled on Everton's late second goal, so I'm not holding that moment against him too much.

RB: Leandro Bacuna, Rating: 6

The man with the pass of the match. This was far from Bacuna's best match. His crossing was very poor. He failed to make a tackle or complete a take-on. But that pass...Bacuna's assist to Tom Cleverley for Villa's crucial third goal was world class, splitting apart the Everton defense with inch-perfect precision. Possibly the pass of the season for Villa.

CB: Jores Okore, Rating: 7

The man who kept Romelu Lukaku quiet. Okore finished with 11 clearances, four tackles and one key late block -- all without conceding a foul or making any other mistakes. Assured performance from Okore against Lukaku, who barely had a sniff until the second half. The Danish defender was also composed on the ball when necessary.

CB: Ron Vlaar, Rating: 5

The man who had a clumsy day. Not Vlaar's best match. Missed a free header from six yards on a Grealish corner in the first half. Conceded a penalty with a poor tackle on Steven Naismith. Was carded when James McCarthy got the better of him on the edge of the box late. Didn't make a single successful tackle. He did record an assist on Benteke's second goal though with a nice flick from a corner just before half.

LB: Kieran Richardson, Rating: 5

The man who still isn't good. Yeah, Richardson isn't a long-term option at left back for Villa. He's settled down a bit since his nightmare against QPR, but his timing with the back four is still off. Strange fact about Richardson's game on Saturday: all five of his misplaced passes were in his own half. You'd think the opposite would be true of a defender, but Kieran isn't really a defender.

CDM: Ashley Westwood, Rating: 8

The man with the composure of a surgeon. Westwood was Pirloesque on Saturday, with 92-percent passing and three interceptions. He understands this role much better than Carlos Sanchez, and his ability to sit in front of the back four allows Cleverley and Delph to roam and excel in advanced positions. Rewatch Aston Villa's third goal and focus on Westwood's brilliance. In a moment where Everton were in the ascendancy, Westwood received the ball, settled it in a tight space, looked around for options, then played a perfect pass wide right to Bacuna in space. A few seconds later, the ball was in the Everton net. Don't underestimate the value of Ashley Westwood to this team.

CM: Tom Cleverley, Rating: 7

The man with the winning goal. Cleverley scored what proved to be the decisive goal with a tremendous finish over Tim Howard and into the roof of the net after making a bursting 40-yard run that Bacuna spotted. Loved his enthusiastic celebration too -- hopefully that's a sign he's more likely to sign for Villa than Everton in the summer. Besides the goal, it was another typical Cleverley display: quiet, effective and energetic.

CM: Fabian Delph, Rating: 9

The man with better dribbling than Stephen Curry. Just an unbelievable performance from Delph on Saturday. An early assist on a looping cross to Benteke started it off, but his work throughout the game was what led Tim Sherwood to call Delph "the best midfielder in the country right now" after the match. Here's the Delph stat breakdown versus Everton: five take-ons (some of just nasty ankle-breaking, highlight-reel ilk), three aerial duels won, two interceptions, 81-percent passing. His evolution this season from athletic tackler to complete footballer continues to be amazing to watch. Just ran circles around McCarthy and Barry all afternoon. Hopefully his apparent ankle injury that he ran off doesn't linger into the coming weeks.

AM: Charles N'Zogbia, Rating: 6

The man with the popped collar. I want N'Zogbia to do well, mostly because Villa paid 10m for him. But he continues to just frustrate. Showed some more bright moments on Saturday without an end product. Has some chemistry with Benteke but it never really leads to anything. He was subbed, again, and didn't look too pleased walking off the field. He's done alright in past month or so, but something tells me N'Zogbia may be offloaded in the summer with a player like Bakary Sako brought in to replace what he does.

AM: Jack Grealish, Rating: 7

The man with the calves and corners. Another solid display from Grealish, highlighted by his devilish corners that found Vlaar's head twice, resulting in one goal and one bad miss. Also had this moment, hilariously putting James McCarthy on his behind with a fake shot. I could watch that all day. Grealish wasn't at his dribbling-by-defenders-at-will best, but that was mostly because Everton backed off him so much. Teams are starting to learn about Grealish and what he can do, so it will be interesting to see how he adjusts in the run in of this season.

ST: Christian Benteke, Rating: 9

The man who scores the goals, making it all work. Beastly header for the opener and a well-taken reaction finish for the second goal. The Belgian is just unstoppable right now. With Villa dominating the midfield so much, he wasn't needed as frequently in build-up play or aerial duels, but he was still effective in those areas when called upon. A brace for Benteke gives him 10 goals in eight league games. Oh, Christian Benteke, indeed.

SUBS

CDM: Carlos Sanchez, Rating: 4

The man who is confused. Sanchez came on for Westwood, and it took him approximately 30 seconds to be caught on the wrong side of the ball. He fails to understand his role of sitting deep and letting Delph and Cleverley do the running. Made one nice tackle to rob Lukaku but failed on two others that Villa were lucky went unpunished.

RB: Alan Hutton, Rating: 5

The man who returned. Nice to see Hutton back, although he didn't do much in his 10 minutes. Will be interesting to see if Bacuna retains his starting spot in the final stretch or if Hutton returns to the XI.

AM: Joe Cole, No Rating

The man who entered the match in stoppage time. Completed one pass. If he was a hockey player, his plus-minus would've been minus-one, so that's not good I guess.