Villa remain unbeaten

Young guns Gabriel Agbonlahor and Luke Moore maintained Aston Villa's unbeaten start to the Premiership campaign and piled on more misery for Charlton with a 2-0 win.

Both have benefited from the confidence and belief installed in them by O'Neill, with Moore leaving the pitch to a standing ovation when replaced by Milan Baros in the closing stages, while Agbonlahor, in particular, was a constant menace with his pace down the right flank.

This game was never a classic, but Villa finished worthy winners, while visiting boss Iain Dowie has plenty to contemplate with Charlton having taken only three points from a possible 18.

Skipper Gareth Barry and Gavin McCann impressed in midfield, while Olof Mellberg was a steadying influence at the back on a day where Liam Ridgewell was not at his best.

Charlton knocked the ball around neatly but, apart from two efforts from Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, lacked a cutting edge.

Randy Lerner was greeted with warm applause when he took his seat in the directors' box as the new Villa chairman in succession to Doug Ellis, but he witnessed an uninspiring opening 45 minutes.

Agbonlahor's pace carved open an early chance after he cut inside, but he would have been disappointed with the end product as his shot flew well wide.

It needed a reflex save from Thomas Sorensen to prevent Hasselbaink giving the lead after only four minutes.

Mellberg's slip allowed the former Middlesbrough striker a clear run at goal, but Sorensen reacted quickly to block his shot at the expense of a corner.

Charlton played with a surprising amount of confidence given their lowly placing, but Villa started to build up some momentum towards half-time.

Goalkeeper Scott Carson held onto Moore's curling drive and Barry's free-kick, and after 35 minutes Villa broke the deadlock through a superb finish by Agbonlahor.

Barry floated the ball across the Charlton area and the 19-year-old timed his run to beat the offside trap and send a stunning volley past Carson. O'Neill could not contain his delight as he leapt up and down by his dug-out.

Charlton tried to respond and Darren Bent sent a dangerous low ball across the face of the Villa area, but no-one was on hand to apply the finishing touch and that was the sum of the first-half entertainment.

The Addicks began the second half brightly and Hasselbaink was foiled for the second time by Sorensen. The Dutchman had time to line up a shot from 15 yards out, but Sorensen was well positioned to parry strongly away to his right.

Stilian Petrov was starting to come more into the game and one well-weighted pass found the run of Davis into the box, but he hesitated and the chance went begging.

Despite the poor quality of the game, there was still a feelgood factor around Villa Park, with fans chanting the names of O'Neill and Lerner.

And after 62 minutes the home side gave themselves breathing space with a clinical finish from Luke Moore. Olof Mellberg won an important tackle inside his own box on Bent and the ball was worked out to Angel in the left channel.

The Colombian international waited for Moore to make his run and threaded a perfect pass into the path of the striker. Moore shrugged off the challenge of El Karkouri before driving his shot past the exposed Carson.

Charlton boss Dowie responded by making a double substitution, bringing on Marcus Bent and Darren Ambrose in place of Hasselbaink and Holland.

Moore could have added to Villa's tally, but he headed wide from Barry's menacing cross.

Agbonlahor's pace was a constant threat to the Charlton defence and he moved inside Hermann Hreidarsson before testing Carson with a left-footed drive.

Marcus Bent hit the post in injury-time shortly after Amady Faye had been booked for a challenge on Petrov, but Villa ran out comfortable winners.