Aston Villa and QPR were involved in a six-goal thriller in the Barclays Premier League on Tuesday night.

The clash between good friends Tim Sherwood and Chris Ramsey, who previously worked together at Tottenham, ended amicably with both sides picking up a point in the stunning 3-3 draw.

Christian Benteke scored a hat-trick at Villa Park which lifted Villa from 17th to 16th while the R's, who led 3-2, remained in the drop zone.

The contest was played at a frantic pace and there were two early goals to show for the attacking nature of the clash.

Matt Phillips gave the visitors the lead in the 7th minute when he got on the end of a chipped Bobby Zamora cross to head home with a diving effort before Benteke got the first of his treble with a deflected attempt after cutting in from the left three minutes later.

The Belgian striker then edged Villa ahead with a composed finish after a quick break by the home team but that sparked QPR who levelled on 55 minutes when 36-year old defender Clint Hill scored his first Premier League goal with a header from a Phillips corner.

Charlie Austin was never going to miss out in a high-scoring affair and got in on the act with his 17th of the season to put the west Londoners in front in the 78th minute when firing home a Phillips cross from inside the box.

That set it up for a grandstand finish as Villa chased the match and it did not disappoint with Benteke completing his hat-trick with seven minutes remaining when bending an inch-perfect free-kick inside Rob Green's near post.

It was an extremely pleasing spectacle for the neutral and will certainly give both sets of fans hope that if they can produce such performances in the fixtures left, then survival in the top flight is definitely on the cards.

2014/15 Barclays Premier League - season scores

Aston Villa: 3 (Christian Benteke 10'/33'/83') QPR: 3 (Matt Phillips 7', Clint Hill 55', Charlie Austin 78')

Villa Park, Birmingham - 33,708