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FULL TIME - BLACKBURN 0 - 4 ASTON VILLA: An emphatic win for the visitors and a rare defeat at Ewood Park for the home side and they may be left ruing missed chances in the first-half.
Roberts looks for a consolation for Rovers but his shot is straight down the throat of Carson, who has not had a lot to do in this second half.
BLACKBURN 0 - 4 ASTON VILLA: Good work from Carew on the left channel before he sets up MARLON HAREWOOD, who puts the icing on the cake for Villa.
An awful pass from Reo-Coker gifts an opportunity to Gamst Pedersen, who sets up David Dunn but his shot is way off target.
Carew turns Samba inside out before striking an ambitious shot from long range which does not trouble Friedel.
The travelling fans are jubilant in the visitors stand, while the remainder of Ewood Park remains subdued.
Gabriel Agbonlahor hobbles off the field and Marlon Harewood gets six minutes on the pitch.
Agbonlahor goes down holding his ankle and is writhing in agony.
David Bentley makes way for Morten Gamst Pedersen as Hughes makes his third and final substitution.
Stiliyan Petrov, who has had a good game, leaves the field and Craig Gardner is introduced.
BLACKBURN 0 - 3 ASTON VILLA: Mellberg goes on a mazy run down the right flank before cutting the ball back to ASHLEY YOUNG, who curls the ball past an outstretched Friedel from 20-yards.
Young bursts into the penalty area and is shoved over by Samba. It looks a blatant penalty but Phil Down waves away the protests.
A through ball cuts open the Rovers' defence and Barry latches onto it to leave himself one-on-one with Friedel before he is pulled back for offside
Bentley is dispossessed in the centre of the park and Villa break. There are two blue shirts and three claret, but Barry does not make the most of the opportunity and gifts the ball to the opposition.
Bentley's corner is headed clear by Ooijer at the near post.
The visitors are doing their utmost to take the sting out of their opponents play at every opportunity now.
Rovers looked like they needed the fresh legs and maybe this could prove to be an inspired substitution.
It is a warm reception for Steven Reid who is returning from injury. He replaces Aaron Mokoena
Jason Roberts replaces Benni McCarthy.
Blackburn look set to throw everything at Villa now, with Mark Hughes making a double substitution.
Young skips past Emerton and reaches the byline, but his low cross does not find a team-mate.
Play resumes and the Villa defender is back on his feet
Mellberg goes down after colliding with team-mate Knight and is lying motionless on the ground. He receives treatment on the pitch and the game is paused for a few minutes.
Martin O'Neil is still barking orders to his team and though his side is ahead, he does not look happy!
Bentley puts an inviting cross into the box and Andre Ooijer gets on the end of it, but sends his header wide of the mark.
Blackburn are playing with enough energy to make up for the extra man but they will have to conjure something extra special if they are to get back into this one.
The home side respond well to the goal however. A penalty appeal for handball from Bouma is turned down by Dowd - a dubious decision which could prove a big turning point in the match.
Martin O'Neil's side are well on course for their fourth successive win and with their opposition down to ten men, they look unlikely to get a goal back.
BLACKBURN 0 - 2 ASTON VILLA: GARETH BARRY makes no mistake from the spot, coolly slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
It is an early bath for Ryan Nelsen, who receives his marching orders for the foul on Agbonlahor.
Barry flights a free-kick into the box. Carew's cushioned header finds Agbonlahor, who is cynically brought down from a tug of his shirt by Nelsen and Phil Down awards the visitors a penalty.
David Dunn goes down rather theatrically following a Mellberg challenge, but it fools the referee and the Villa defender picks up the first booking of the game
McCarthy strikes a vicious shot goal-wards and Bouma magnificently gets his body in the way
Agbonlahor breaks with the ball and is in a decent position, but shows too much of it to Nelsen who plucks the ball off his toes.
Petrov must have shaken off the injury that he picked up late on in the opening half as he has returned to the action
The sides remain unchanged as the second half gets underway.
HALF TIME - BLACKBURN 0 - 1 ASTON VILLA: The goal came against the run of play but Villa battled harder after the goal and got a foothold in the game. They will have to stay on guard in the second half if they are to see off Blackburn though.
Blackburn put together a sweeping move and seem to sweep past Villa, but the final shot is deflected off Knight and behind for a corner.
Worrying signs for Aston Villa as Petrov goes down awkwardly and is forced to leave the field to receive treatment.
Carew's flick on finds Agbonlahor one-on-one with the keeper, who rushes out and blocks the shot. He should have scored, but Friedel will be pleased to have saved a goal following his earlier error.
Santa Cruz looks like he is through on goal before Bouma puts in a last ditch challenge and guides the striker away from danger - superb defending from the Dutch defender.
The visitors are seeing a lot more of the ball at the moment, and are now dominating the central midfield areas.
Carew and Agbonlahor are wide open but Petrov fails to pick either of them out this time.
A long ball into the Villa box looks for Brett Emerton in a decent position, but Bouma does just enough to get his head to the ball and guide it to safety.
Petrov runs at the Blackburn defence and his cross gives Carew a chance to double the tally, but the big striker fails to trouble Friedel.
Dunn wins a corner off Reo-Coker, but Bentley's delivery is poor and sails straight behind for a goal-kick.
The visitors do not deserve their goal and it came against the run of play, but are now on course for their fourth consecutive win.
BLACKBURN 0 - 1 ASTON VILLA: Ashley Young delivers a free-kick and picks out JOHN CAREW, who glances the ball into the far corner with his head. Brad Friedel may have to take the blame as he came off his line and got nothing of the ball.
Villa keep hold of the ball and pass the ball around at a slow tempo in order to take the sting out of Blackburn's play.
Barry springs to life in the centre of the park and breaks with the ball before looking for Carew, but his pass has too much on it and runs out for a goal-kick.
The midfield quartet for Rovers look very fluent and the strikers are causing havoc amongst the Villa defence.
Santa Cruz slides a pass through to Benni McCarthy who slots the ball underneath Carson and into the back of the net, before he is pulled back for offside.
Nigel Reo-Coker and Gareth Barry need to get a foothold in the centre of the park for Villa as the home side are enjoying a lot of possession in them areas.
The shots are raining in on the Villa goal at the moment, but this time Dunn's effort is deflected wide for a corner.
Olof Mellberg puts a cross into the box looking for John Carew who has strayed offside.
Carson again has to be on his toes to deny Blackburn, this time from a curling Bentley free-kick.
Blackburn are putting together some fluid, intricate movements at the moment and have muted the visitor's bright start.
A long ball catches the Villa defence off-guard and Santa Cruz latches onto the ball, but blazes his final shot over the bar.
Bentley's corner is cleared only as far as Ryan Nelsen who hits a long range shot to force a fine save out of Carson.
David Bentley runs at goal but Wilfred Bouma puts in an excellent intervention to put the ball behind for a corner.
The first real chance of the game falls to David Dunn, who strikes a thunderbolt of a shot goal-wards but Scott Carson is equal to it.
Young swings a free-kick into the mixer, but Christopher Samba heads the ball away.
The visitors have started brightly and very much look like a side who have won their last three on the trot.
Young whips a low cross into the danger area but a Blackburn defender scrambles the ball away to safety.
Ashley Young takes the resultant corner but Zat Knight's near post flick-on evades his team-mates.
Good work from Gabriel Agbonlahor down the right flank earns his side a corner.
Both sides look tentative and will not want to concede an early goal.
Aston Villa, who won this fixture last season 2-0, are looking for their fourth consecutive win.
Phil Dowd gets the game underway.
ASTON VILLA STARTING XI: Carson, Mellberg, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Carew, Agbonlahor. SUBS: Taylor, Harewood, Davies, Berger, Gardner
BLACKBURN STARTING X: Friedel, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock, Emerton, Mokoena, Dunn, Bentley, Santa Cruz, McCarthy. SUBS: Brown, Savage, Pedersen, Reid, Roberts
Martin O'Neil beings with the same eleven that started the game at Middlesbrough on Saturday for Aston Villa's visit to Ewood Park.
Benni McCarthy passes fit for Blackburn following a gashed leg at Craven Cottage. Roque Santa Cruz also returns to the starting line-up along with David Dunn who is back from suspension.
Blackburn Rovers host Aston Villa on Wednesday evening in what is proving to be a busy week for Mark Hughes' side. Rovers were in action on Sunday evening in a 2-2 draw at Fulham and will take on Newcastle United next Saturday in an action-packed period for the Ewood Park club. Hughes is sweating on the fitness of Benni McCarthy after the striker took a blow to the knee in the opening minutes of the Fulham game and limped off to be replaced by Jason Roberts. The five-goal South African is a major doubt for the visit of Villa and Roberts is on standby to step into the starting line-up where he is likely to partner Roque Santa Cruz, who missed the weekend game following his recent international commitments with Paraguay. Elsewhere, midfield duo Robbie Savage and Steven Reid are also knocking on the door of the first team after returning to full training following lengthy injury absences. Whoever Hughes opts to name on his team-sheet will have the task of securing a first league win in four games as a goalless draw and 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in recent weeks have seen Rovers slip down the league table. Blackburn now occupy ninth place, but a win from their game in hand would see them leapfrog Everton and opponents Villa and move back towards the UEFA Cup qualifying spots. Meanwhile, Villa arrive in Lancashire buoyed by a recent run of impressive results. Martin O'Neill's side have won their last three games and produced an impressive display in Saturday's 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough. John Carew, Olof Mellberg and Gabriel Agbonlahor were on the mark for an increasingly free-scoring Villa side, that are unbeaten since losing 4-1 to Manchester United in October. O'Neill has a fully-fit squad to choose from but is unlikely to alter much from the line-up which has served him so well in recent weeks. Luke Moore, Shaun Maloney, Craig Gardner and Curtis Davies have all been bit-part players this season and again seem certain to figure only on the bench.
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Aston Villa moved into the top six of the table following their fourth straight Premier League win. Having been under the cosh for the opening half an hour, Villa led 1-0 at the break courtesy of John Carew's header from Ashley Young's free-kick. Captain Gareth Barry fired home the second from the spot after opposing skipper Ryan Nelsen was shown a straight red card for a tug on Gabriel Agbonlahor. And with Rovers down to ten men, the Midlands club added the gloss to a professional performance with late goals from Young and substitute Marlon Harewood. With both managers having the luxury of fully fit squads at their disposal, O'Neill named an unchanged side for the fourth game running, while Mark Hughes made two changes to the team that drew 2-2 away to Fulham, with Roque Santa Cruz and David Dunn replacing Tugay and Morten Gamst Pedersen. And looking for their first win in four league fixtures, Rovers started the game at a blistering pace - registering now fewer than five meaningful attacks in the opening 20 minutes. On eight minutes, Dunn's 60-yard pass out to Santa Cruz was returned to him in the centre and the former Birmingham midfielder's long-range strike was fumbled away by Scott Carson. On 12 minutes, David Bentley's corner was headed back into the box by Dunn and Nelsen's swinging left-foot volley went straight into the arms of the England keeper. A minute later, Benni McCarthy showed some delightful skill inside his own half before playing a ball over the top to his strike partner, but after advancing towards the Villa goal, Santa Cruz blazed inches over the upright. On the quarter-hour mark, more trickery from McCarthy led to a foul on the edge of the area, but Bentley's top corner-bound free-kick was expertly tipped over the bar by Carson. On 20 minutes, the ball broke kindly to Santa Cruz in the centre and after stepping inside his man, he slipped a pass through to McCarthy, who finished with aplomb, only to be denied his sixth league goal of the season by a contentious offside flag. But just before the half-hour mark, Villa did open the scoring with their first real attack of the game. Young swung in a free-kick from the left, which he had won himself, and former Rovers trialist Carew beat Brad Friedel to the ball and glanced his header into the empty net. Rovers began the second half in much the same vein as they had started the first - dominating possession and producing some neat interplay in the final third. And just three minutes after the break they were almost back on level terms. McCarthy's fierce right-foot volley looked to be heading towards the back of the net, only for Wilfred Bouma's head to get in the way. And the home side were again made to pay for the missed chance, as Villa doubled their advantage, again against the run of play. On 52 minutes, Nelsen was given his marching orders after being adjudged to have pulled back Agbonlahor in front of goal and Barry confidently slotted the ball home from the spot. Rovers had appeals for a penalty of their own moments later when Dunn's deflected shot bounced up onto the arm of Bouma, but they fell on deaf ears. Rovers rang the changes, with Steven Reid and Jason Roberts entering the arena, but it was the visitors who added to their tally. On 81 minutes, Olof Mellberg picked out Young at the far post after an excellent solo run down the right and the England Under-21 international curled the ball past Friedel into the corner of the net. And with just a minute of normal time remaining, another quick Villa broke ended with Carew's shot being parried and substitute Harewood blasting home the rebound.
Corners
Fouls
Goal attempts
Shots off target
Offsides
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