Middlesbro 0 - 3 Aston Villa

If only Villa could play Middlesbrough every week.

Their record against 'Boro stretches to five wins in the last six visits to Teeside.

Saturday's 3-0 drubbing is also Villa's second-straight away win—but this win is not as sweet as was the victory over Birmingham, for obvious reasons.

This is the first time in three years that Villa have stretched three wins back-to-back. Villa has only lost one of seven league games this season: at 4-1 home to Manchester United on October 20th.

This match was the first of three Premier League games in seven days for Villa, who travel to Blackburn on Wednesday before a home clash with Arsenal next Saturday evening. 

The mood has lifted since England's embarrassment, and it was very pleasing to see the Villa fans get behind Scott Carson with chants of "England's Number One."

It was equally inspiring to see John Carew get on the scoresheet after his recent injury problems. Carew's finish matched his superb turn and gave Villa the lead before halftime.

After the break, Villa did not sit back and attempt to hold the lead; instead they kept moving forward. Olof Mellberg who doubled the score by shooting past Schwarzer, following a Cattermole deflection off a Petrov drive.

Agbonlahor impressively latched on to a Carson clearance and got past Woodgate to fire Villa into a 3-0 lead. Agbonlahor came close to making it 4-0 in the final minutes, but the 'Boro keeper got a crucial deflection and the ball hit the post. Agbonlahor's recent performances have shown his international promise.  

Villa are now up to lucky number seven in the EPL standings, and will reinforce this position if they can manage to win against Blackburn before their showdown with EPL-toppers Arsenal.

This week should prove to be a good test for Villa, and an opportunity to show their credentials.