Blackburn run riot against inept Villa

The Villa manager Brian Little had few words to say after his team's inept performance at Ewood Park: "We were well beaten so perhaps it was unwise to play the system we did. All the players can do is work hard and try and win the next game of football and so if you'll excuse me, there's no point me getting involved in all sorts of questions. Thank you very much." He turned and walked off, seemingly close to tears.

Aston Villa's match went something like this: 31 minutes, Stan Collymore shoots over the bar; 32 minutes, Villa win their first corner; 58 minutes, Savo Milosevic miscues a sitter; 71 minutes, the away supporters chant "What a load of rubbish"; 78 minutes, they start booing; 87 minutes, Collymore gets Villa's first shot on target.

Oh yes, and Villa conceded five goals.

There was anger, too. Two minutes from time, Milosevic made a half-hearted attempt to reach a Dwight Yorke cross and the enraged away fans in the Darwen End poured down the terraces as if they were about to rip the surly Serb limb from limb.

Milosevic then began screaming abuse back and had to be hauled away by Blackburn's Colin Hendry.

Little was at least astute enough to blame his system, but as it is the one he has been playing all season, he has left it a bit late to admit it. With his back five sticking rigidly to their positions and rarely venturing forward, and the three attackers starved of the ball up front, Villa's midfield duo of Mark Draper and Ian Taylor were comprehensively overrun by a Blackburn side boasting three wingers - Jason Wilcox, Damien Duff and Stuart Ripley.

Tim Sherwood opened the scoring, whacking the ball home from a corner in the 21st minute, then Kevin Gallacher took charge in the penalty area to produce a superb hat-trick, scoring with a shot, a shot and a header from a corner in the 68th minute to duplicate the three goals of his striking partner Chris Sutton in Rovers' 4-0 win at Villa Park. Ripley tucked away the fifth as the Blackburn end gleefully demanded of the claret-and-blue shirts: "Are you Burnley in disguise?"

The hat-trick took Gallacher's tally to 13 league goals.

Blackburn: Flowers, Kenna, Sherwood, Hendry, Ripley, Gallacher (McKinlay 72), Sutton, Wilcox, Flitcroft (Croft 72), Henchoz, Duff. Subs Not Used: Pedersen, Beattie, Fettis. Booked: Henchoz. Goals: Sherwood 21, Gallacher 29, 54, 68, Ripley 81.

Aston Villa: Bosnich, Staunton, Ehiogu, Taylor, Draper, Milosevic, Yorke, Collymore, Wright, Nelson, Grayson. Subs Not Used: Charles, Joachim, Hendrie, Hughes, Oakes. Booked: Taylor. Att: 24,834.

Referee: K W Burgeds (Tonypandy).