TONY DALEY ended Aston Villa's scoring problems at Highbury with his first goal for a year and a day to keep Ron Atkinson's side in pursuit of Manchester United.

Beginning the afternoon a point behind United, Villa's championship ambitions were in grave danger before Daley headed the winner.

The otherwise anonymous lan Wright wriggled past Shaun Teale before going down easily. "My heart was in my mouth," admitted Atkinson.

Referee Gerald Ashby, from Worcester, decided that it was obstruction though others might have given a penalty.

But once Villa had taken the lead Arsenal were prepared to surrender the initiative and had Cox and the hard-working Dean Saunders been more accurate in their finishing the scoreline might have been more emphatic.

Daley's 69th-minute goal that kept Villa within touching distance of United saw Ray Houghton, benefiting from a back-heel by Earl Barrett, cross deep into the heart of the Arsenal defence.

Daley would normally be the last person anyone would expect to provide the header, but cometh the hour, cometh the man. Daley's header flew into the net. seemingly as much to his surprise as that of Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman.

"Tony Daley might have been a bit surprised to have been included in the side. We did think about starting with Steve Staunton in there." said Atkinson.

"We decided we needed a little more of a cutting edge and so he was brought in. Good luck to him. And it was a superb cross by Ray Houghton for the goal."