Three goals in 13 minutes saw Aston Villa emerge comfortable victors in their 3-0 win over Middlesbrough in their Premiership clash on Saturday.

John Carew put Villa in the lead on stroke of half time while Olof Mellberg latched on to a defensive blunder by Boro to double the lead three minute into the second half before Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the third near the hour mark to complete the proceedings.

Boro started the match determined to overcome a poor set of results that has seen them collect just 3 points from 9 games and nearly took the lead early on when Scott Carson spilled Stewart Downing's shot but the ball went just wide of the post.

However that was the closest that the hosts came to scoring as Villa dominated the match, taking a deserved lead in the 45th minute when Carew latched on to Gareth Barry's pass before turning around to smash the ball past Mark Schwarzer and into the net.

Villa doubled the lead three minute into the second half when Mellberg latched on to a poor clearance by Lee Cattermole and fire home his first goal of the season. Scott Carson overcame a difficult weekend to turn provider for the third goal as his long goal kick found Agbonlahor who raced behind the Boro defense to slot home his team's third goal of the match.

With Middlesbrough unable to create any chances, it was Villa who came close to grabbing the fourth deep in the second half when Agbonlahor smashed his shot against the post.