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Vassell double haunts Villa

31/10/2005

Darius Vassell fired Manchester City to victory over former club Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Vassell scored two first half goals to help City to a 3-1 victory over Villa, lifting the north-west club up to fourth in the Premiership and above local rivals Manchester United.

The England striker joined City from Villa in the summer for £2 million and came back to haunt his old club on four minutes as he pounced on a defensive error to give his new side the lead.

Jay-Lloyd Samuel's defensive header looped over debutant keeper Stuart Taylor after poor communication between the two players, which let Vassell in to poke the ball into an empty net.

Vassell proved the scourge of the Villa defence in the first half and his powerful strike came back off the post on 16 minutes after an exchange of passes with Andrew Cole.

However Vassell did not have to wait long for his second goal of the night, doubling his side's lead with a cracking volley on 26 minutes.

Cole expertly flicked on Danny Mills' chip to Vassell, who finished clinically as City got the reward they deserved for their domination.

Villa found a way back into the game on 65 minutes, with Liam Ridgewell scoring his first goal for the Midlands club.

Ridgewell scored from close range after Patrick Burger's cross was poked goalwards by Gavin McCann.

However Villa failed to make the most of their lifeline and Cole made sure of victory seven minutes from time.

The former Fulham striker's shot was heavily deflected off Ridgewell and into the net over the stranded Taylor.

The defeat leaves Villa just two points and two places above the relegation zone.

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