John Carew and Ashley Young grabbed a brace apiece to keep Aston Villa on course for Europe and send humiliated local rivals Birmingham closer to the Barclays Premier League relegation trapdoor with a thumping 5-1 victory.

Martin O'Neill's side outgunned their woeful opponents in all departments to close the gap on fifth-placed Everton to three points.

Gabriel Agbonlahor completed the Villa rout and all third-from-bottom Blues could manage in reply was a consolation goal from substitute Mikael Forssell.

Villa will move above the stuttering Toffees on goal difference if they win next Sunday's clash at Goodison Park after a run of three successive wins which has brought them 15 goals.

Villa simply overwhelmed their city rivals and dominated proceedings in all departments apart from the opening 10 minutes.

Watching England head coach Fabio Capello must have been impressed with the performance of in-demand midfielder Gareth Barry and winger Young.

Barry's contribution emphasised the need for Villa to hold on to the 27-year-old who has been linked with a move to Chelsea and Liverpool in the past fortnight.

The former Brighton trainee and a revitalised Stiliyan Petrov dominated in the centre of the park while Birmingham struggled to cope with the pace of Young.

Liam Ridgewell and Radhi Jaidi found it almost impossible to contain Villa's man mountain Carew.

Defeat keeps Blues in the bottom three and on this performance they will find it difficult to climb clear of the danger zone.

Only James McFadden emerged with much credit and an away record of two points from the last 30 is chiefly responsible for City's slide towards the Coca-Cola Championship.

The visitors started brightly and David Murphy's first-time shot looked to be finger-tipped over the bar by Scott Carson only for referee Mark Clattenburg to award a goal-kick.

But Villa were soon in the ascendancy and Carew was just off target with a glancing header from a corner by Young.

Barry drilled a 20-yard shot just wide after Agbonlahor had laid the ball back into his path and Blues keeper Maik Taylor tipped aside a curling free-kick from the player linked this week with a summer move to Liverpool.

Villa were now in the ascendancy and Muamba was fortunate to escape without a booking for a late touch-line challenge on Barry. Taylor palmed away an inswinging free-kick from Young at full stretch as the visitors were penned in their home half.

Taylor failed to hold on to a stinging 25-yard drive from the influential Petrov but Murphy was first to react to the rebound and hacked the ball clear.

But it came as no surprise when Young broke the deadlock with a stunning goal after 28 minutes - his seventh of the current campaign.

Barry made the run into the Blues box and saw his low cross half cleared but Olof Mellberg managed to clip the ball back across the box and Young struck with a superb volley from 20 yards out which flew past Taylor.

Birmingham tried to retaliate and Nafti squandered a good chance to put them back on level terms.

The perseverance of the Tunisian international enabled him to shake off two challenges and find himself 10 yards out but he could not keep his shot down.

Villa were soon back on the offensive and a first time pass from Petrov played in Agbonlahor but the combined efforts of Stephen Kelly and Taylor managed to block his shot.

Barry brought another good save out of Taylor with a curling shot from just inside the area.

It came as no surprise when Villa doubled their lead through Carew's 11th goal of the campaign after 42 minutes. This time Young was the creator with an inswinging free-kick and Carew was unmarked as he sent a glancing header past the exposed Taylor.

McFadden became the first player to be booked after 51 minutes for bringing down Barry on the right flank.

Carew was only just off target with a header from the resulting Barry free-kick but the home side were not to denied and after 53 minutes struck again.

Barry was again heavily involved as he ran onto Young's curling ball into the box, shook off the challenge of Ridgewell and squared the ball for Carew who had a simple task to score his second goal of the game.

McLeish responded by bringing on Mikael Forssell and Olivier Kapo in place of Jerome and Zarate. Zarate showed his frustration and displeasure by kicking over a television microphone before taking his place in the Blues dug-out.

Blues were powerless to stop the tide of attacks and after 63 minutes Young made it 4-0 with a solo goal, his second of the game.

The England winger left Kelly for dead as he cut into the box and saw his initial shot parried by Taylor. But he was first to react to the rebound and smashed it past the Northern Ireland number one.

Forssell gave City a glimmer of hope when he reduced the arrears after 66 minutes, coolly slotting the ball past Carson from a pass by McFadden.

But Agbonlahor completed Villa's nap hand with 12 minutes remaining when he beat Taylor with a low shot.

Teams:

Aston Villa Carson, Mellberg (Harewood 85), Laursen, Knight,Bouma, Young, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Carew, Agbonlahor.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Salifou, Routledge, Berger.

Goals: Young 28, Carew 42, 53, Young 63, Agbonlahor 78.

Birmingham Maik Taylor, Kelly, Jaidi, Ridgewell, Murphy,Jerome (Kapo 58), Nafti, Muamba, McSheffrey,Zarate (Forssell 58), McFadden.

Subs Not Used: Doyle, O'Connor, Parnaby.

Booked: McFadden.

Goals: Forssell 67.

Att: 42,584

Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).