Carson begins rehabilitation

Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 3

After a week that would have given Alistair Darling nightmares, Scott Carson needed all the help he could get, writes Steve Madeley.

Villa's big keeper could not, however, have dreamed of the charity he got as he set about rebuilding a career that will never quite be the same again.

Middlesbrough's supporters were not among the well-wishers – they couldn't have given Carson a harder time if he had let the Child's Benefit Agency database slip through his fingers as well as Niko Kranjcar's Wembley shot.

But almost everyone else on the banks of the Tees seemed to be bending over backwards to do Carson a favour.

There were the Villa fans, who matched the abuse from their home counterparts with raucous support that clearly touched the man they still hail as 'England's number one'.

Then there were Carson's Villa team mates, whose impressive resilience limited his involvement on surely the most testing day of his career.

And finally there were Middlesbrough's players, who chose Carson's afternoon in the spotlight to produce a dreadful display that suggested a bleak winter is in store in a bleak corner of the Premier League.

Even Lady Luck appeared to be on Carson's side, as she ensured that even the nervous moments that could have prolonged his personal hell went unpunished, allowing the on-loan Liverpool man to grow in stature in front of a sea of lenses poised for another howler.

The result was that the Riverside Stadium faithful who jeered his every step for an hour witnessed one of the England villains pick himself up off the floor to end the afternoon suggesting he will soon stand tall once more.

He will know, however, that a few more difficult days and predictable boos will have to be dealt with before his rehabilitation can be completed.

On another day the modern-day scapegoat might have made the most of his day in the north east to seek the counsel of an England Villain of yesteryear.

But on this day Gareth Southgate had more than enough problems of his own to occupy his thoughts.

A fallen hero of Villa Park, Southgate received about as much sympathy from his former club's supporters as the Boro fans afforded Carson.

The difference, however, was that while Carson left the Riverside Stadium with foundations dug for a personal rebuilding job, Southgate departed with precious few chinks of light on a gloomy day.

With the pressure mounting on the Boro boss, his former club did not even need to play well to pile more misery on their ex-centre-half.

Villa only had to increase the tempo for a 20-minute spell to demolish a home side whose confidence looked almost as brittle as their back four.

Southgate's side enjoyed the better of a dismal first half, but after they huffed and puffed and was their house that was blown down by the merest of shoves from their visitors.

All it took was John Carew's strike in first-half stoppage time to burst Boro's fragile bubble, and a high-octane 20 minutes from Villa immediately after the break killed off any faint hopes of a Boro comeback.

Olof Mellberg eased any Villa nerves before the win was wrapped up by Gabby Agbonlahor, a potential international star of the future.

Amid a collection of indifferent displays from those in Villa shirts, Agbonlahor was a constant thorn in the side of Southgate.

He scored, hit the woodwork, fired another shot just wide and worried all four Boro defenders on various times.

A year ago the pacy Brummie was miles from the international picture.

But, as Villa fans know, he makes up ground quickly and the new England coach might genuinely consider whether his case is any less valid than those of Messers Johnson, Defoe and Bent.

Agbonlahor was the shining light for his side in an otherwise dismal first half that Boro shaded as the least poor of the sides.

If Wednesday at Wembley was a damning verdict on the technical quality of the Premier League, the first 45 minutes at the Riverside on Saturday was the exclamation mark.

It was fast, furious and utterly futile as neither side possessed the poise or composure to think their way out of the mire.

Carson's nerves were not helped after 25 seconds when he sliced a clearance from Zat Knight's backpass, but he got away with his minor error and from then his fortunes hit an upward curve.

His eighth-minute block from Stewart Downing's shot could have sent his confidence either way. He got down quickly but the ball squirmed beneath his body.

Had it gone in the flashlights would have gone crazy, but it rolled wide and Carson had a save under his belt.

Lee Cattermole put a good chance wide at the far post from a corner before Agbonlahor's first moment of quality saw him collect Ashley Young's pass and hold off David Wheater before dragging a shot wide of the far post.

The remainder of the first half was a non-event until stoppage time, when Gareth Barry went past Gary O'Neil's weak challenge and crossed for Carew, who turned the flat-footed Wheater before beating Mark Schwarzer with a simple finish.

And that was all it took to crush Boro. Villa flew at them at the start of the second half and within three minutes it was 2-0 as Stiliyan Petrov headed goalwards, Cattermole miscued his clearance and Mellberg's fantastic first touch gave him an easy finish from close range.

Agbonlahor raced down the right after a clever ball by Barry, only for Emanuel Pogatetz to halt his progress, but it was merely a temporary reprieve for Boro as their defence imploded.

A punt by Carson was allowed to bounce and Agbonlahor outmuscled Jonathan Woodgate to shoot past Schwarzer.

So, on a day he must have dreaded, Carson left with a clean sheet and an assist to his name, while the Villa feelgood factor gathered extra momentum with their first sequence of three successive wins for precisely three years.

The club has a smile on its face. And even Carson's frown is slowly disappearing.