Villa misery

TWO goals in three second half minutes were not enough to save Aston Villa's UEFA Cup campaign, which last night ended in glorious failure as Atletico Madrid just about survived a second half battering to earn a place in the semi-finals on the away goals rule.

Villa looked dead and buried when Jose Caminero grabbed the first half goal which put Atletico 2-0 ahead on aggregate and left Villa needing to score three times to turn the tie around.

The Spanish international had also been his side's hero in the previous round when he scored in both legs of the win over Croatia Zagreb and his 28th minute strike at Villa Park was like a dagger into the heart of John Gregory's side.

But in a pulsating second half Villa came close to completing a memorable comeback as two goals in three minutes from lan Taylor and substitute Stan Collymore brought the aggregate score level.

Villa created a host of chances and Madrid were left hanging on by the skin of their teeth with goalkeeper Jose Molina having to pull off a splendid save to keep out a late effort from youngster Lee Hendrie. survive late

As in the Calderon Stadium a fortnight ago Villa failed to fire on all cylinders in the first 45 minutes as Madrid looked dangerous on the break and hardly gave the home side a sniff of a chance.

However, in the cold light of day, the significance of failing to score an away goal in the first leg, when Dwight Yorke and Julian Joachim squandered golden chances, became increasingly apparent.

It was the third time in five seasons that Villa had fallen victim to the away goals rule in Europe after previous exits at the hands of Trabzonspor and Helsingborgs.

The Spaniards started like a side with the knowledge behind them of never having lost an away European tie under coach Raddy Antic.

They certainly showed no intentions of sitting back on the slender advantage from two weeks ago and were a constant threat on the counter-attack.

Madrid were also tight at the back and it was 20 minutes before Villa created anything resembling a chance and then Ugo Ehiogu fired well wide after advancing into the penalty area.

Savo Milosevic found some rare space 20 yards out after a neat pass from Lee Hendrie but. when it seemed there was an open invitation to shoot. he opted to try to find the overlapping Julian Joachim and the chance went begging.

In the 28th minute Villa Park was reduced to virtual silence when Caminero poached the goal which left the home side a mountain to climb.

Kiko picked out Carlos Aguilera who outpaced Ugo Ehiogu and, as Mark Bosnich came out to block his resulting effort, the ball span away into the path of Caminero. He had time to steady himself and coolly picked his spot before drilling a shot into the corner of the net.

The goal arrived just when Villa were threatening to put their game together and they responded to the setback by producing their best attempt of the half.

Midfielder Mark Draper tested Jose Molina with a low drive which the Atletico goalkeeper needed two attempts to hold onto.

Villa opened the second half like a side on a death or glory mission and they should have equalised within two minutes of the restart.

Dwight Yorke picked out Joachim completely unmarked on the right in the area but he screwed his shot across the face of the goal.

However, the pressure on the Atletico goal became relentless and in the 71st minute Taylor gave Villa a ray of hope when his shot from 20 yards was deflected past Molina after Joachim had laid the ball back in his path.

Then three minutes later the Holte End erupted with a goal to remember from Collymore. Hendrie found him on the left of the area and he cut inside a defender before curling an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Villa surged forward in vain search of the goal which would have turned the tie around.