Angel lifts Villa

Darius Vassell is challenged by Henning Berg

Aston Villa 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

Aston Villa jumped from eighth to fourth in the Premiership after this win over Blackburn Rovers.

Juan Pablo Angel, who is finally beginning to find his feet in English football, put Villa ahead just 32 seconds into the second half.

Darius Vassell made the game safe with 20 minutes left when he finished off good work by Angel and Lee Hendrie.

Villa remain unbeaten in the Premiership this season, and the goalscorers vindicated manager John Gregory's decision to rejig his forward line.

Gregory had brought in Angel and fit-again Vassell in place of David Ginola and Bosko Balaban, who had started against Varteks in the Uefa Cup defeat on Thursday.

After that tame European exit, this result came as a welcome boost to the Midlands side.

Villa's energetic second-half performance was in contrast to their lacklustre efforts in the opening period when they were guilty of making a string of unforced errors.

All that changed when Angel, after picking up Lee Hendrie's pass, sent a low shot past Brad Friedel.

It means that the Colombian has been on target four times in the last four matches - a stark contrast to his poor form of last season.

Sluggish

Angel received a standing ovation from the Villa crowd when he was substituted late in the game.

Early on, Blackburn had a great chance to go ahead when Villa goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel beat out a fierce 20-yard shot from David Dunn.

The rebound fell to Matt Jansen but he was unable to control the ball and put his effort past the post.

Angel puts a smile on the face of Villa's fans

Dunn then got into another good position and sent an angled drive just over the bar.

Blackburn's best effort in the second-half came from Gary Flitcroft who hit the woodwork.

Villa looked sluggish in the early stages after their Uefa Cup exploits.

So sluggish that after only 20 minutes manager John Gregory came down from his seat in the stand to the dugout - an indication he was unhappy with his team.

The home side sparked briefly into life when Angel got into space on the edge of the area after some neat inter-passing but he lifted his shot over the crossbar.

But after the break, Villa posed an altogether different prospect.

And their two second half goals were another signal that this is a team that can pose a genuine threat to the Premiership big guns.

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Aston Villa: Schmeichel, Delaney, Staunton, Alpay, Wright, Hendrie, Boateng, Hadji, Kachloul, Vassell, Angel. Subs: Dublin, Enckelman, Ginola, Balaban, Samuel.

Blackburn: Friedel, Berg, Tugay, Bjornebye, Flitcroft, Dunn, Johnson, Neill, Mahon, Jansen, Hughes. Subs: Filan, Hignett, McAteer, Ostenstad, Greer.

Referee: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City)