Boro deepen Villa wounds

The match ended with chants of "what a load of rubbish" reverberating around the half-empty stadium, and David O'Leary appears to have his work cut out after an insipid performance that stretched Villa’s run to one win in their last 13 Premiership matches. Yakubu Aiyegbeni opened the scoring midway through the first half and although Luke Moore provided a rare uplifting moment with the equaliser after half-time, Boateng restored the lead and then won a penalty that Yakubu converted. The effervescent Steven Davis reduced the deficit with a crisp finish in injury time but it was too little, too late for Villa.

By contrast, Middlesbrough will welcome a rare three-point haul on their return from UEFA Cup action, only their second in two seasons – the last also coming against Villa last term. Indeed, Steve McClaren provided a slight alteration on the crowd’s refrain when he declared: "We should come here every week". Other Premiership teams might be saying the same if Villa continue to play like this, and only after Moore's equaliser did they find any sort of rhythm, but that was painfully fleeting.

"I thought it was poor, no excuses," said O'Leary. "That was not good enough. We gifted them three goals and if you gift teams goals you are asking for trouble. There was a nervousness about the players. They looked afraid and didn't want to take responsibility." Wilfred Bouma certainly did not, and his earnest impression of a Sea Lion – as good as it is – gifted Yakubu the opener just after the half-hour mark.

Moore levelled five minutes after the restart but Boro were soon back in front thanks to more calamitous defending when Fabio Rochemback's corner ran through to the far post, where Boateng, unmarked, fired a left-foot shot home. The Dutch midfielder then helped seal the win with three minutes remaining, leading a counterattack that was only halted when Jlloyd Samuel clipped his heels just inside the penalty area. Yakubu stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick past Sørensen – the third spot-kick against Villa this season. Villa fans were leaving in droves by the time the industrious Davis reduced the deficit, and they will not be fooled by the flattering 3-2 scoreline.