Stewart Downing bagged his first league goals for Aston Villa as Martin O'Neill's men brushed aside Burnley.
Clarets crushed as hosts recover from sloppy start
Stewart Downing bagged his first Premier League goals for Aston Villa as Martin O'Neill's men brushed aside Burnley at Villa Park.
The Carling Cup finalists were sluggish and poor in the first half and needed Ashley Young's soft goal on 32 minutes to get them back on terms after Steven Fletcher's well-worked opener for the visitors in the 10th minute.
But it was a different story after the break with Villa rampant and scoring four times in 13 minutes as the Clarets capitulated to continue their deeply concerning form on the road.
Downing bagged two in three minutes - the second with the aid of a big deflection off Danny Fox - to turn the game on its head with Emile Heskey then also getting in on the act.
Gabriel Agbonlahor put the result beyond any doubt in the 68th minute before being substituted along with fellow goalscorers Heskey and Young as Martin O'Neill looked ahead to next Sunday's clash with Manchester United at Wembley.
Substitute Martin Paterson hit a consolation for the Clarets in the second minute of added time after a splendid pass from on-loan Chelsea youngster Jack Cork, who was making his first Premier League start.
Villa had only scored three goals in their previous seven league games but still carried too much firepower for Brian Laws' side, who remain in the bottom three.
Burnley have still only taken one point on their travels and have now conceded 43 goals in the process.
Fit-again Agbonlahor teed up Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov for the home side's first chance on the edge of the box but he dragged his shot well wide.
Stunned
Then Burnley stunned Villa by taking the lead through Fletcher's 11th goal of the campaign.
Cork's pass allowed David Nugent to break into the Villa box and his low centre was turned home at the far post by Fletcher, who had managed to remain onside.
It was Burnley's first away league goal in 550 minutes since Chris Eagles scored in the 5-3 defeat at West Ham on 28th November.
Nugent made a powerful burst towards the Villa area and his shot took a deflection which had goalkeeper Brad Friedel scrambling across his line before it drifted just wide.
It was 24 minutes before Villa created their first clear-cut opening. Downing delivered a probing centre from the right and Heskey flashed a glancing header only a couple of feet wide of the far post.
Villa finally drew level after 32 minutes through Young's seventh goal of the campaign.
Young played a short corner to Milner, received the return pass and then cut inside before firing a ball into the box which clipped Fox before entering the net with Brian Jensen unsighted.
Jensen then got his hand to a dipping shot from Young and the rebound hit Downing but flew wide.
Burnley skipper Clarke Carlisle became the first player to be booked after 40 minutes for a late challenge on Young.
Command
Villa took total command after the break and went ahead in the 56th minute after a quick break down the left involving Heskey and Agbonlahor.
Young eventually sent over a low cross and Downing drilled an angled shot into the corner of the net.
Three minutes later the former Middlesbrough player added another. Jensen beat out a shot from Agbonlahor but Milner responded quickest to the rebound, turned the ball back inside to Downing and his shot deflected past Jensen.
Then in Villa's next attack Heskey got on the scoresheet when he diverted a low centre from Agbonlahor into the corner of the net.
Burnley were now in total disarray and after 68 minutes Agbonlahor completed Villa's scoring. Heskey found Milner in space and Agbonlahor prodded the ball home despite being under pressure from Carlisle.
Agbonlahor and Heskey left the pitch to standing ovations when replaced by John Carew and Nathan Delfouneso respectively.
Fletcher was yellow-carded shortly afterwards for a foul on Villa left-back Stephen Warnock.
In a rare Burnley attack Friedel dealt with a well-struck shot from Eagles but Villa's quickfire scoring burst had decided the contest.
Clarets substitute Frederic Nimani was booked for deliberate handball before Carew could have made it 6-1 but he dragged his close-range shot wide.
In added time Paterson pulled one back for Burnley from Cork's low centre.
| Aston Villa |
Team Statistics |
Burnley |
| 5 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 9 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 8 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
6 |
| 9 |
Corners |
5 |
| 7 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
3 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 74.4 |
Passing Success |
76.6 |
| 17 |
Tackles |
15 |
| 52.9 |
Tackles Success |
93.3 |
| 47.2 |
Possession |
52.8 |
| 47.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.3 |
|
