*Villa’s victory via Vassell*

Aston Villa’s class of 2000-01 managed to avoid becoming the first side from the club since 1962-63 to lose six successive League matches. And the man earning top marks with two goals was Darius Vassell, the previous game’s naughty boy who had been sent off in the FA Cup against Leicester.

Yet things could hardly have been made easier for him by a Bradford side who seemed determined to get relegated sooner rather than later with some terrible second-half defending.

Having enjoyed an encouraging opening period, and seen Villa’s Gareth Barry carried off at half-time with a knee injury, which turned out not to be serious, everything looked set for Bradford to build on their momentum.

But then, five minutes after the break, Bradford’s Robert Molenaar, who had been dangerously casual all afternoon, played the ball to Juan Pablo Angel. The Colombian rolled the ball into the path of Vassell and he whipped a shot past Gary Walsh for the first Premiership goal of his career.

In the 58th minute, it was Walsh who was to blame. In Bradford’s previous home match against Manchester United, it had been his air kick that had presented Teddy Sheringham with the chance to break the deadlock. His error on this occasion wasn’t in that class, but it was his clearance that fell to Vassell and allowed the Villa striker to round Andrew O’Brien and fire a shot into the roof of the net.

Bradford’s awful second period was completed three minutes from the end when Julian Joachim dispatched the third goal after good work from Lee Hendrie, which capped an outstanding display from a man who too often has failed to make the impact expected of him.

‘We showed a lot of balls today,’ said John Gregory, the Villa manager. ‘We feel a European place is not beyond us and I’m delighted for the boys who have stuck together through a difficult period.’

Bradford again invested their hopes in the likes of Dean Windass, whose sponsorship by a local pub seems appropriate given his rotund appearance, rather than Benito Carbone, whose endorsement by a removals company seems similarly suitable.

Windass is never likely to be found wanting when the chips are down and he was at the core of all Bradford’s best moments in the first half. But by the end, that had all been forgotten.

‘This defeat was very much self-inflicted,’ said Jim Jeffries, the Bradford manager. ‘We were silly at the back.’