Aston Villa stepped up their late surge for a European place as Coventry's
miserable run against their west midlands rivals continued in the Premiership
today.
Dwight Yorke scored at the start of each half to help Villa win their fifth
game in a row at Highfield Road.
John Gregory has now led Villa to victory in six of the seven games they have
played since he took over from Brian Little in February.
The win means Villa have a real chance of playing in next season's UEFA Cup -
just weeks after they seemed to have a relegation scrap on their hands.
Villa are four points above the Sky Blues, who saw their run of nine league
games without defeat come to an end against their bogey side.
With matches now running out - they have six Premiership fixtures left after
today - the defeat has dealt Coventry's European aspirations a severe blow.
Yorke has not enjoyed his most prolific of seasons but he was at his sharpest
today, capitalising on two Coventry lapses.
The game was only five minutes old when Alan Wright's long ball caught the Sky
Blues' defence napping.
Lee Hendrie turned past Roland Nilsson and, as Steve Ogrizovic tried to close
the young midfielder down, he curled the ball towards the far post.
Yorke was unmarked and had the simple task of nodding the chance past
Ogrizovic.
Then, just three minutes after the break, the Trinidadian doubled his side's
lead with his 13th goal of the season.
Ogrizovic beat out Savo Milosevic's close-range drive, but the rebound fell to
Julian Joachim.
Coventry failed to challenge the former Leicester striker, and his cross was
hooked into the net by Yorke, who was again unmarked, from six yards out.
Yorke's two goals were enough to give his side all three points, but the Sky
Blues will feel slightly unfortunate not to have taken at least a point from the
encounter.
They put Villa under heavy pressure for much of the game, particularly before
the break, but all they had to show for their dominance was Noel Whelan's fine
goal on 59 minutes.
He evaded Ian Taylor's challenge and curled a superb 25-yard shot past Mark
Bosnich.
However, Whelan's strike would have been more than a consolation had it not
been for Coventry's profligacy in front of goal.
Trond Soltvedt drilled a clear chance wide before Bosnich beat away Darren
Huckerby's fierce shot.
Dion Dublin also headed into the side-netting, while Soltvedt saw another
effort slide just over.
Dublin had an overhead kick that drifted well wide before Bosnich made a
full-length save to deny Whelan after substitute Viorel Moldovan's knock down in
the 89th minute.
However, Villa were able to hang on to take all three points and leave their
fans dreaming of another European campaign.
Teams
Coventry: Ogrizovic, Shaw, Burrows, Breen, Nilsson, Whelan,
Telfer, Soltvedt (Moldovan 75), Boateng (Hall 45), Huckerby,
Dublin.
Subs Not Used: Hedman, Williams, Strachan.
Booked: Burrows.
Goals: Whelan 59.
Aston Villa: Bosnich, Staunton, Southgate, Ehiogu, Taylor,
Joachim, Wright, Grayson, Hendrie, Milosevic (Scimeca 62), Yorke.
Subs Not Used: Oakes, Draper, Nelson, Bassell.
Booked: Taylor.
Goals: Yorke 5, 48.
Att: 22,792
Ref: D J Gallagher (Banbury).
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