Villa suffer on the road as Benarbia hits the accelerator

Manchester City 3 Aston Villa 1

Aston Villa's severe bout of travel sickness showed no sign of abating as the Manchester City midfielder Ali Benarbia stole the show at Maine Road.

Benarbia was brought into play just after the hour mark by Kevin Keegan, the City manager, to change the course of the game completely.

Keegan had decided not to include the Algerian in his starting line-up despite the midfielder scoring in the defeat against Spurs on Monday. But as City were looking lacklustre in attack, after the Villa striker Dion Dublin had cancelled out Marc-Vivien Foé's early opener, Keegan was left with no option but to bring him on.

Benarbia instantly showed his class by putting the home side back in front within 13 minutes of his arrival, before setting-up Foé for City's third goal.

Villa were pursuing their first away victory of the season, but City had gone two league games without a win and needed a bright start. Nicolas Anelka was close to giving them that with a fierce 25-yard shot which was just wide of Peter Enckelman's right-hand post. But the home side broke the deadlock on 16 minutes with a well-worked goal from Foé. Anelka fed his striking partner Shaun Goater, who squared the ball for Foé to hit a first-time shot beyond Enckelman.

Villa then had Enckelman to thank for keeping them in the game with a great reaction save to deny Goater from eight yards. It proved to be a crucial stop as the visitors equalised just before half-time. Jlloyd Samuel raced to the by-line before cutting the ball back for Dublin to shoot past a helpless Peter Schmeichel from close range.

City were being frustrated by a battling Villa side, but Foé should have grabbed his second of the game on the hour. Eyal Berkovic's pass found its way to an unmarked Foé, who blazed over the bar from 18 yards. However, Benarbia's introduction on 64 minutes changed City's fortunes in front of goal and on 77 minutes his diving header from an Anelka cross gave City the lead.

The home side made certain of victory three minutes later. Benarbia turned from scorer to provider with a delicate chip over the Villa defence for Foé to round Enckelman before sliding the ball into an empty net.

Manchester City (3-5-2): Schmeichel 7; Distin 6, Howey 6, Dunne 6; Tiatto 5 (Jensen 6, h-t), Wright-Phillips 6 (Bernabia 8, 64), Berkovic 7, Foé 7, Horlock 6; Goater 7 (Huckerby 6, 72), Anelka 7. Substitutes not used: Nash (gk), Wiekens.

Aston Villa (3-4-3): Enckelman 7; Mellberg 6, Staunton 6, Barry 6; De la Cruz 6, Samuel 7, Hitzlsperger 7 (Leonhardsen 5, 67; Hendrie 89), Kinsella 6; Hadji 7, Dublin 7, Vassell 6 (Angel 6, 63). Substitutes not used: Postma (gk), Allback.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire) 7.