Foxes stun Villa

Peter Schmeichel endured a torrid afternoon

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Aston Villa 0-2 Leicester

Leicester climbed out of the bottom three after a stunning win at local rivals Aston Villa.

Goals from Ade Akinbiyi and James Scowcroft condemned John Gregory's men to their first home defeat in the Premiership this season.

To add to Villa's woes, substitute David Ginola was sent off for lashing out at Dennis Wise.

But there was no need for that from Ginola and if there was any chance of us getting back into the game it went from that minute onwards. He will be fined.

John Gregory

More worrying is Villa's lack of potency in front of goal, with just one in five games.

But the win for Leicester will give their fans encouragement that they can avoid relegation under the stewardship of manager Dave Bassett.

This was just their second away win of the season, but they now lie 17th, with Derby and Ipswich losing and Southampton playing on Sunday.

  Match facts

12 mins: 0-1 Akinbiyi heads home

51 mins: 0-2 Scowcroft hammers home

84 mins: Ginola sent off

Villa endured a terrible first half, creating few chances and giving away possession at a frightening rate.

And the unthinkable happened after 12 minutes, when Akinbiyi scored the opening goal.

The Leicester striker headed home at the far post after a corner from Dennis Wise had been flicked on by Scowcroft.

That is a big victory for us and taking us out of the bottom three but we have been out of the bottom three before and we cannot get carried away with that.

Dave Bassett

The Dane appeared to be fouled by Frank Sinclair and ran to the half-way line to protest with the Referee Steve Bennett.

Akinbiyi had already been in the action when he was booked for not retreating from a Villa free-kick.

Towards the end of the half, Villa's Columbian international Juan Pablo Angel had Villa's best chance, but he could only shoot into Walker's arms when well placed.

Schmeichel error

The Villa misery continued at the start of the second season, with Scowcroft doubling the Leicester lead in the 51st minute.

The goal came from a Schmeichel error, with the goalkeeper dropping a cross from Lee Marshall when under pressure from Akinbiyi and Scowcroft hammering home.

The ball broke loose and then the Villa keeper collided with Olof Melberg - and former Ipswich striker Scowcroft drove home his first goal for the Filbert Street club.

Villa lost their Turkish international Alpay midway through the second half with a serious looking injury and was replaced by Steve Staunton.

The lack of creativity meant that Ginola was brought on for Lee Hendrie, but the Frenchman's afternoon ended in the 84th minute, when he reacted to a tackle by Wise.

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Aston Villa: Schmeichel, Delaney, Alpay, Mellberg, Wright, Stone, Boateng, Hendrie, Merson, Angel, Vassell. Subs: Dublin, Staunton, Enckelman, Ginola, Balaban.

Leicester: Walker, Sinclair, Marshall, Elliott, Rogers, Davidson, Impey, Savage, Wise, Scowcroft, Akinbiyi. Subs: Jones, Royce, Oakes, Benjamin, Stewart.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent)