De la Cruz and Moore open account for Villa

Aston Villa 2 Charlton Athletic

For 70 minutes, Villa's quest to put a barren start to the season behind them looked destined to end in more frustration, but two goals inside the last 20 minutes lifted the mood at Villa Park as Charlton paid the price for an unambitious performance.

The summer signing Ulises De La Cruz, the Ecuador winger signed for £2m from Hibernian, broke the deadlock with his first goal for the Midlands club, a feat then emulated by 18-year-old Stefan Moore, Villa's England youth international striker, who scored within eight minutes of stepping off the bench late in the second half.

After watching his side clock up more than 50 shots but only one goal in four Premiership matches before last night, Villa's manager Graham Taylor took the step of sending out a new strike force, replacing Darius Vassell and Peter Crouch with Juan Pablo Angel and Marcus Allback – though Vassell could not have started because of a hamstring injury.

Taylor's tinkering did not end there, however, as he sought a remedy to Villa's recent under-achievement. Alan Wright lost his place, Lee Hendrie dropped to the bench and with Mark Delaney also apparently injured, there were recalls for Jlloyd Samuel, Alpay Ozalan and the Norwegian Ronny Johnsen, who was unusually deployed in central midfield.

The results initially were encouraging enough. Charlton, who began the night in eighth place to Villa's 16th and were seeking a third straight win away from home, were obliged to spend good chunks of the opening half engaged in frantic defending as the home side dominated possession.

However, Taylor could hardly failed to have noticed the crowd's frustration as Villa's dominance failed to produce an early goal. As in the previous games, there was no shortage of chances. But Angel seemed to get the ball stuck under his feet before scuffing a shot after five minutes and later fired a free kick high over the crossbar.

When, midway through the half, goalkeeper Dean Kiely lost both the ball and his position wide on the right, a goal looked a certainty. But, with the net unguarded, De La Cruz failed to deliver even a cross.

Charlton's strategy consisted mainly of getting men in numbers behind the ball. But they did have their moments. Jon Fortune headed narrowly wide from a corner, Claus Jensen tested Peter Enckelman's alertness and Mathias Svensson had the Villa goalkeeper momentarily in trouble before Alpay cleared up.

The scrappy nature of the first half was duplicated in the second. Neither side could settle into any consistent rhythm while Charlton were disappointingly unambitious, seemingly content to defend.

Villa looked destined to endure another blank 90 minutes when Angel failed to convert another inviting opportunity, Kiely bundling his header wide.

But just when the Londoners might have been anticipating the successful completion of their task, Villa took the lead through the winger De La Cruz, who produced a moment of skill out of character with the tone of the evening, wriggling between the defenders Chris Powell and Steve Brown before tucking the ball inside the near post with Kiely unable to prevent a goal. Seven minutes from the end, the result was assured for the home side.

Moore, replacing the largely ineffective Allback, broke through the middle, cleverly pushed the ball past Rufus and slotted a neat shot wide of Kiely to match De la Cruz's feat in scoring his first goal for the club.

Aston Villa (3-5-2): Enckelman 6; Mellberg 7, Alpay 6, Staunton 7; De la Cruz 7, Kinsella 6, Johnsen 7, Barry 7, Samuel 5; Allback 5 (Moore 7, 75), Angel 6 (Crouch, 88). Substitutes not used: Hitzlsperger, Postma (gk), Hendrie.

Charlton Athletic (4-4-2): Kiely 6; Young 7, Rufus 8, Fortune 7, Powell 5; Kishishev (Brown 69), Bart-Williams 6 (Bartlett 5, 75), Robinson 5, Jensen 6; Euell 5, Svensson 6 (Johansson, 83). Substitutes not used: Fish, Rachubka (gk).

Referee: G Poll (Tring) 4.