Villa record a third consecutive Premier League victory in six unbeaten games  under Martin O'Neill as Reading are swept aside at Villa Park to sit 6th in the Premier League table. 

Midfielder Moustapha Salifou, 24, makes his debut for Villa as a 90' substitute after joining from FC Wil 1900 for a fee of £450,000 in August 2007 to become the 805th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Stiliyan Petrov secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 54th appearance (47 Starts) to make it W20 D18 L16, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 5 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Martin Laursen secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 51st appearance (49 Starts) to make it W20 D19 L12, 7 Goals, 2 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Craig Gardner makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (40 Appearances) to make it W16 D9 L15, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 6 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Shaun Maloney makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (11 Starts) to make it W11 D8 L6, 7 Goals and 0 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for only the 2nd time in 13 Premier League games as they again can't get to grips with a combination of a tiny, ramshackle ground, a bloke with a bell and some very, very highly remunerated players. As a result Villa fall back to 7th in the table with 8 to play.

Olof Mellberg is sent off on his 256th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W87 D76 L93, 8 Goals, 6 Assists and 33 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a rate of a card every 7 games so far in his Villa career.

Villa's form unravels further as they are beaten by leaders Manchester United to leave them with three consecutive Premier League defeats.

Villa lose a third consecutive game for the first time since December 2006 and drop back to 8th place in the table. 

Shaun Maloney, 25, makes his 33rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (18 Starts) before moving on to Celtic for a fee £2,790,000 in August 2008 - the club he had joined from January 2007 for a fee of £1,350,000. Maloney would leave with a record of W13 D10 L10, 7 Goals, and 1 Assist at a rate of 1 goal involvement for every 4.12 games he played.

Villa make it ten goals in two games without conceding as their late season wobble is truly over with a magnificent six goal thrashing of Derby at Pride Park.

Villa hit six in a league game for the first time since beating Wimbledon 7-1 in February 1995 and in their first away league game since beating Oldham Athletic 6-0 in November 1971.

Gabriel Agbonlahor scores his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 87th appearance (80 Starts) to make it W30 D29 L28, 20 Goals, 11 Assists and 6 Bookings.

Scott Carson secures his 15th win in a Villa shirt on his 32nd appearance to make it W15 D8 L9, 3 Assists, 40 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.25 goals per game, 9 Clean Sheets (28%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Patrik Berger secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 30th appearance (9 Starts) to make it W10 D8 L12, 2 Goals, 4 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa face Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar for the first time in competitive football, Hafnarfjarðar become the 152nd team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 35th continental European opponents and their second from Iceland after their meeting with Valur Reykavik in their 1981-82 European Cup winning campaign.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, 37, makes his Villa debut after joining from Blackburn Rovers for £2,250,000 in July 2008 to become the 808th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Left back Nicky Shorey, 27, makes his Villa debut after joining from Reading for a fee of £3,960,000 earlier this monthto become the 809th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Nathan Delfouneso, 17, makes his Villa debut as a substitute after coming through the ranks as a schoolboy before signing professional forms in July 2008 to become the 810th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Craig Gardner makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (33 Starts) to make it W20 D13 L17, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 7 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa face Hafnarfjarðar in the return leg of the UEFA Cup qualifier and are held after leading for three minutes.

Martin O'Neill's changes see Villa struggle against their opponents but with qualification never in danger after the first leg a UEFA Cup 1st Round place is theirs.

Martin O'Neill changes policy and names a broadly representative side for the UEFA Cup. 

Villa travel to Bulgaria for the UEFA Cup first round and open up a commanding lead as Reo-Coker scores for the second game in succession.

Villa face PFC Litex Lovech for the first time in competitive football, Lovech become the 153rd team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 36th continental European opponents and their first from Bulgaria.

Centre back Carlos Cuéllar makes his Villa debut aged 27 after joining from Glasgow Rangers for a fee of £9,000,000 in August 2008 to become the 812th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Gareth Barry makes his 400th appearance for Villa as they beat nine men opponents to take three away goals into the second leg. 

Gabriel Agbonlahor makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (93 Starts) to make it W36 D34 L30, 26 Goals, 11 Assists and 7 Bookings.

Brad Friedel concedes his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 8th appearance to make it W6 D2 L0, 10 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.25 goals per game and 0 Clean Sheets so far in his Villa career.

Martin Laursen secures his 30th win on his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (73 Starts) to make it W30 D27 L18, 10 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa entertain Litex but can only draw for the second home European game in succession yet still qualify for the second round thanks to their aggregate victory.

Once again Martin O'Neill's cup changes see Villa struggle but their first leg result is enough to see them progress to the UEFA Cup Group Stages. 

Wayne Routledge makes his final appearance for Villa aged 23 before moving on to Queens Park Rangers for a fee of £603,000 in January 2009. Routledge had only joined Villa from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2008 for a fee of £1,530,000 making 8 appearances, 6 as substitute during his 12 months with Villa and a record of W3 D3 L2.

Brad Friedel makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W8 D2 L0, 11 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.10 goals per game and 1 Clean Sheet (10%) so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it two wins from two in UEFA Cup Group F as they take another step towards progression to the Round of 32.

Villa face SK Slavia Prague for the first time in competitive football, Slavia become the 155th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 38th continental European opponents and their third from the Czech Republic after their meetings with Baník Ostrava and FK Příbram in previous campaigns.

Brad Guzan keeps his first clean sheet in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W1 D0 L1, 1 Goal Conceded and 1 Clean Sheet. 

John Carew contributes his 30th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 59th appearance (57 Starts) to make it W24 D18 L17, 24 Goals, 6 Assists and 9 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.90 starts he has made so far in his Villa career. 

Steve Sidwell contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 6th appearance to make it W4 D1 L1, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Craig Gardner secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 58th appearance (37 Starts) to make it W25 D15 L18, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 10 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer their first UEFA Cup setback of the campaign after Martin O'Neill's mass changes don't work out once again but Villa still progress to the Round of 32 with a game still to play.

Villa carry their indifferent League form to Slovakia and lose to Žilina after a much changed line up falls two behind after twenty minutes and are unable to recover.

Villa play their 5,000th game in League and Cup football.

Villa face MŠK Žilina for the first time in competitive football, Žilina become the 156th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 39th continental European opponents and their second from Slovakia after ŠK Slovan Bratislava in their 1993-94 UEFA Cup campaign.

Ashley Young makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (72 Starts) to make it W31 D24 L20, 15 Goals, 29 Assists and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

James Milner makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W21 D13 L16, 3 Goals, 12 Assists and 5 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.33 games played so far in his Villa career.

Nathan Delfouneso scores his first goal on his 4th start in a Villa shirt (4 Appearances) to make it W2 D1 L1, 1 Goal and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Marlon Harewood contributes his 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 36th appearance (8 Starts) to make it W14 D10 L12, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Moustapha Salifou makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (4 Starts) to make it W5 D2 L3 so far in his Villa career.

Martin O'Neill once again sends a second string line up into action in Europe and they once again lose but qualification is secured due to results elsewhere and a UEFA Cup Round of 32 berth is Villa's.

Villa face Hamburger SV for the first time in competitive football, Hamburg become the 157th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 40th continental European opponents and their third from Germany after Berliner FC Dynamo and Bayern Munich in their 1981-82 European Cup winning campaign.

Martin O'Neill's 'Cup side' lose again in Europe but qualification to the Group of 32 is safe despite successive defeats for the weakened side.

Barry Bannan makes his Villa debut as a substitute aged 19 after coming through the schoolboy ranks following his move from Celtic in July 2004 to become the 814th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Steve Sidwell is sent off on his 13th appearance in a Villa shirt (10 Starts) to make it W7 D3 L3, 3 Goals, 1 Assist, 5 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a rate of a card every 2.16 games so far in his Villa career.

Moustapha Salifou contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 11th appearance (5 Starts) to make it W5 D2 L4 and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Villa see off Doncaster to progress in the FA Cup against the sad backdrop of the loss of Villa cult hero Paul Birch earlier in the week.

John Carew scores his 25th goal to secure his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance (58 Starts) to make it W25 D20 L17, 25 Goals, 6 Assists and 9 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.87 starts he has made so far in his Villa career. 

Curtis Davies secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 43rd appearance (38 Starts) to make it W25 D12 L6, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Steve Sidwell contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 22nd appearance (18 Starts) to make it W14 D5 L3, 4 Goals, 1 Assist, 6 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one every 4.40 games played so far in his Villa career.

Former Villa forward Darren Byfield makes a rare appearance against his boyhood club.

THE GAME THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING Martin O'Neill causes controversy in real time as he selects arguably the most unrepresentative line up in Villa's history outside of war time football to take to the field in Moscow. Unsurprisingly this mix of fringe, third choice and youth players come unstuck and Villa's chance of more European glory is thrown away.

It had happened before of course, in fact it was a relative novelty for Martin O’Neill to play anything approaching a full strength line up in a Cup game as he had done earlier in the month at Everton. The FA Cup was one thing but the UEFA Cup was another. Perhaps giddy with success in the League - Villa were third at the time - O’Neill gambled and .... lost. 

For the away leg in Moscow however O’Neill took “fielding a weakened team to new heights.” With all due respect to the players involved this wasn’t weakened, it was surrender. Of course if Villa had gone on to secure a 3rd place or better finish in the League it would have been a gamble that paid off. At the time, and subsequently however, it was at best a gamble that hadn’t worked and at worst an insult. 

Of the 16 players O’Neill named in the squad, three had yet to make their debuts, two had made 6 starts, one had made 4 starts, another just 3 this season. Yet another had appeared just once as a substitute, another hadn’t been selected in the squad for over 6 months, one had played in just 4 of the last 17 games, and one was a centre forward who had scored just once all season. 

Martin O’Neill spoke of “decisions not taken lightly” but regardless a wrong decision was obvious and the performance of the Cup side through the season to date had shown as much. 

If a first chink in the armour of the Martin O’Neill armour had been exposed a year earlier by the sale of Gary Cahill, this second chink opened a gaping hole that would take some real mending. 

Centre forward Marlon Harewood, 29, makes his 40th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (9 Starts) before moving on to Blackpool on a free transfer in July 2010. O’Neill had signed Harewood just 18 months before his final appearance for £4,950,000 and he went on to record W16 D10 L14, 7 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings across his time with Villa.

Midfielder Moustapha Salifou, 25, makes his 13th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) but would remain with the club until June 2011, 4 years after he joined and 2 and a half years after his final appearance. Villa had paid FC Wil 1900 £450,000 for his services and his record on leaving was W6 D2 L5 and 1 Assist. After leaving Villa, Salifou spent 8 months with German fourth tier side 1.FC Saarbrücken but was then without a club for 20 months before 4 months with another 4th Division side TSV 1860 Rosenheim ahead of another 13 months out of the game since when he has joined German fifth tier side Türkspor Augsburg. 

Winger Marc Albrighton makes his Villa debut aged 19 despite having yet to sign professional forms with the club. Something he would do in July 2009, 5 months after his premature debut, having come through the ranks as a schoolboy to become the 816th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Albrighton wouldn’t play again for Villa this season, neither would midfielder Barry Bannan who also made his first start for the club. Stuart Taylor would not appear on the bench again and Brad Guzan would only make one further substitute appearance this season. 

In addition Defenders Shane Lowry and Chris Herd would neither make their debuts or appear on the substitute bench again this season and £5,670,000 signing Steve Sidwell would only feature for Villa once more this season in the final game of the campaign. 

In total then of the 16 players O’Neill selected for this fateful game, 10 saw their Villa careers interrupted or ended completely.

Brad Guzan concedes his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 7th appearance to make it W2 D1 L4, 10 Goals Conceded, 1 Clean Sheet and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Nicky Shorey makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) in ‘that’ Moscow game despite having not made a League start since November 9th. Shorey’s contribution in the Russian capital makes it W10 D2 L5, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.