Robbie Keane returned to again haunt Aston Villa manager John Gregory as Leeds ended their dismal sequence against the Midlands club with victory in Wednesday's Premiership clash at Villa Park.

Villa had looked on course for a fifth successive victory against David O'Leary's side when the on song Paul Merson - in front of England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson - put them ahead mid-way through the first half.

But that man Keane again proved to be the thorn in the side of Gregory who had spurned the chance to buy him for £5.5million from Wolverhampton Wanderers 18 months ago before he moved to Coventry.

Keane had scored the winner for the Sky Blues against Villa last season at Highfield Road which left Gregory fighting to hold onto his job.

Here he set up the goals for Lee Bowyer and Ian Harte which earned Leeds only their third away league win of the campaign.

Leeds were well worth the victory which leaves Villa with only one league in the last 11 games despite a late rally by the home side in which Merson twice hit the woodwork.

Keane was a constant menace and has quickly adjusted to life back in the Premiership after his unproductive spell at Inter Milan.

Bowyer was influential in midfield while Jason Wilcox troubled Villa after his introduction as a half-time substitute.

Villa huffed and puffed and showed plenty of effort, but only Merson looked as if he had the guile to unlock the Leeds defence.

Gregory left out goal-shy striker Dion Dublin as £9.5million club-record signing Juan Pablo Angel made his home debut.

The Colombian had only one real opportunity in the entire 90 minutes and is clearly a yard off the pace of the Premiership after his month out of action before joining Villa.

Villa took time to get into their stride with Leeds enjoying the bulk of the early possession.

Mark Viduka was off target with a low shot on the turn, but there were too many misplaced passes from both sides in the opening 20 minutes.

Villa slowly started to build up some momentum and Lee Hendrie was just too high with a 20-yard effort.

Angel threatened for the first time when he broke clear of the Leeds defence after seizing onto a pass from Ian Taylor, but Jonathan Woodgate made up ground to deny him a shot.

It came as no surprise when Villa broke the deadlock in the 24th minute through Merson.

Barry floated over a left-wing free-kick which was flicked on by Taylor into the path of the midfielder.

The former England international had time to steady himself before drilling a low shot back across Paul Robinson into the corner of the net.

It was Villa's first goal in 386 minutes of Premiership football since George Boateng scored in the 2-1 win at Elland Road last month.

But the lead lasted just four minutes as Villa paid the penalty for backing off before Keane threaded the ball into the path of Bowyer.

The former England Under-21 man gave Villa keeper David James little chance as he side-footed the ball into the corner of the net.

Leeds were on top for the remainder of half, but in truth the only worthwhile efforts on target in the first 45 minutes were the two goals.

The half-time interval saw Belgium striker Luc Nilis make an emotional farewell to Villa fans after being forced to retire because of the double fracture of his leg suffered at Ipswich in September.

Leeds boss David O'Leary brought on Jason Wilcox for the start of the second half at the expense of the injured Dominic Matteo.

It was Villa who came close to breaking the deadlock early in the second period when Steve Stone clipped the bar after Robinson had parried away a low effort from Boateng.

But Leeds snatched the lead when Gareth Barry held down Keane in the box following a cross from Viduka - and Harte did the rest from the penalty spot as he sent James the wrong way.

Villa launched a desperate late bid to salvage a point and Merson beat Robinson all ends up with a rising shot which came back off the woodwork and then a delicate chip thudded against the bar and rebounded to safety.

Teams:

Aston Villa: James, Stone (Delaney 80), Alpay, Staunton, Barry, Wright (Ginola 69), Taylor (Vassell 54), Boateng, Hendrie, Merson, Angel.

Subs Not Used: Dublin, Enckelman.

Booked: Alpay, Barry.

Goals: Merson 24.

Leeds: Robinson, Kelly, Woodgate, Ferdinand, Harte, Bowyer, Dacourt (Batty 77), Bakke, Matteo (Wilcox 45), Viduka, Keane (Smith 76).

Subs Not Used: Martyn, Mills.

Goals: Bowyer 28, Harte 75 pen.

Att: 29,335

Ref: S Bennett (Orpington).