Remi Garde hailed the impact of Gabriel Agbonlahor after the striker's first Premier League goal of the season helped Aston Villa seal a 2-0 home win against Norwich City.


Agbonlahor had not found the net since March but he raced on to a throughball by Jordan Veretout to beat Declan Rudd and double Villa's lead after Joleon Lescott had opened the scoring with a header on Saturday.


Villa are still eight points from safety but their third league victory of the campaign closed the gap on 19th-placed Sunderland to just four points.


And Garde was pleased for Agbonlahor, the 29-year-old striker having started just nine of Villa's 25 league matches in an injury-hit season.