Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke was back to his best in last night's friendly win over Crewe Alexandra.

Benteke scored a hat-trick as Aston Villa claimed a first pre-season win of the summer at the expense of Crewe.

Belgian striker Benteke, who last week signed a new four-year contract at Villa Park, hit three goals in 13 first-half minutes after Andreas Weimann had opened the scoring from distance after two minutes of action at Gresty Road.

Harry Davis pulled a goal back for Crewe just before the break and Villa manager Paul Lambert decided to make 10 changes at half-time.

The Premier League side lost at Luton on Tuesday after being held to successive draws at Wycombe, Bochum, Paderborn and Wigan but there was no stopping them in Cheshire and Dutch winger Leandro Bacuna added a fifth goal seven minutes from time.