*Taylor-made for Villa.*

Villa helped themselves to two first-half goals, extending their lead at the top of the Premiership to six points in the process.

It has been suggested that Villa will not win the title until they sign a 20-goal-a-season striker, but the ever astute Dion Dublin pointed out in the Coventry programme that while John Gregory’s side may lack a dominant goalscorer they have a lot of players capable of getting on the scoresheet. So it proved.

Stan Collymore was retained in the Villa attack following his hat-trick in Europe in midweek, paired with Paul Merson at Julian Joachim’s expense, but it was midfielder Ian Taylor who ensured the visitors stay on top of the table for another fortnight at least.

Not that this was any great feat of versatility. Taylor’s grandmother could probably have scored both, such was the extent to which Villa sliced open the Coventry defence. To be fair to the home side, who bristled with endeavour and aggression in the first half and scarcely deserved to turn round two goals down, Villa enjoyed good fortune on both occasions.

Taylor’s first came against the run of play as Coventry were beginning to find their range and cause Mark Bosnich some problems in the Villa goal.

New signing Stephen Froggatt had just shot narrowly over and Bosnich scrambled on his knees to clear from Noel Whelan when Merson spread the ball wide to Charles on the right for the full-back to send in a firmly struck, low centre. Sure enough Roland Nilsson managed to get in the block which prevented the ball reaching Collymore at the far post, but only at the cost of teeing it up invitingly for Taylor to smash home from close to the penalty spot.

If Coventry viewed that as unlucky, they regarded Taylor’s second as scandalous. Merson looked well offside when he collected Lee Hendrie’s pass up the right flank in the 39th minute, and with Coventry’s stranded defenders reduced to protesting from the halfway line, the England player found it a simple task to round Magnus Hedman and leave the supporting Taylor a simple tap-in.

Referee and linesman were surrounded by angry City players but both were well-placed and appeared to check with each other before permitting the move to progress. Furthermore, Hendrie’s intelligent ball forward was definitely played in the hope of catching Coventry out. It would take a video replay to establish the precise rights and wrongs of the case, but with Merson and Taylor running in one direction and Richard Shaw and Gary Breen belatedly moving up in the other the linesman’s margin of error may have been much narrower than it appeared to the rest of the ground.

Coventry enjoyed their best period between the two goals, with Bosnich saving a long shot from Paul Telfer and Froggatt doing what Strachan wanted for his £2 million, supplying a succession of dangerous crosses from the left. It was not his fault there was no one in the centre to take advantage. The former Wolves winger gained a reward of sorts in the second half, when he worked the ball in for the left to allow substitute Trond Soltvedt to pull a goal back, only the second Villa have conceded in the league this season and their first in 550 minutes of football.

It was no more than City deserved, after starting the second half brightly and seeing Telfer and George Boateng denied by Bosnich. Indeed, with Coventry dominating most of the second half the home side probably deserved something from the game, but they continue to be vulnerable on the break and a more clinical side than Villa would have dispatched them in a second half which produced chances at both ends.

Taylor could have had his hat-trick four minutes before Soltvedt’s goal, just failing to get a foot to Collymore’s cross with the goal at his mercy. Simon Grayson had a goal disallowed for a handball in the build up and Hendrie saw a close-range shot beaten away by Hedman, but the most glaring miss of the afternoon was from Julian Joachim 10 minutes from the end.

Cleverly played clear on goal by Collymore, Joachim only had Hedman to beat but missed the target from six yards. If Villa ever do sign a bona fide striker they might become uncatchable.