Aston Villa have it all to do in the Intertoto Cup

FC Zurich 2 Aston Villa 0

Strikes from Alhassane Keita and Ursal Yasar, who was then sent off following his goal celebrations, mean Graham Taylor’s men will have to re-discover their form if they are to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.

To make matters worse Villa will be without defender Jlloyd Samuel who was dismissed five minutes from time for his second bookable offence.

Villa had started the game brightly and were unlucky not to take the lead after 12 minutes, when German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger picked up a loose clearance and rifled a shot against the crossbar from 15 yards. Although they continued to dominate the midfield, the visitors were caught napping at the back in the 32nd minute.

A David Pallas cross eluded everyone except Keita, who fired a low shot into the corner of the net.

Just before the break the referee threatened to call the players off the pitch after a section of Zurich fans threw some objects onto the pitch, but the police managed to restore order.

Mustapha Hadji’s introduction after 57 minutes gave Villa more of a cutting edge as they pressed forward. Gareth Barry and Peter Crouch both came close midway through the half, but seconds after Hadji squandered a glorious chance, Villa suffered the killer blow. Seven minutes from time Yasar was put clear by Daniel Gygax and he calmly finished past Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman.

Yasar’s over-zealous celebrations earned him his second yellow card of the night, but Villa were unable to make the extra man count as Samuel received his marching orders soon after. Villa continued to push for an away goal and in the dying seconds Hadji had a header tipped over the crossbar, while Hassan Kachloul also came close.

FC Zurich: Konig, Nef, Hellinga, Keller, Taroni (Iodice 57), Fischer, Yasar (Schneider 85), Akale Kanga, Quentin, Keita (Gygax 47), Pallas.

ASTON VILLA: Enckelman, Delaney, Wright, Boateng, Dublin, Barry (Kachloul 81), Crouch, Stone, Boulding (Hadji 57), Samuel, Hitzlsperger (Hendrie 73).

Referee: Florian Meyer (Braunschweig).

Stevenage 0 Tottenham 4

Stephen Carr made his return from injury as Tottenham started their pre-season programme with a convincing 4-0 over Nationwide Conference outfit Stevenage yesterday.

Milenko Acimovic and Rohan Ricketts made their debuts for the Premiership side, who led 3-0 at the break, with youngsters Ronnie Henry and Lee Barnard also getting their opening first-team outings.

Johnnie Jackson opened the scoring after half an hour and Darren Anderton notched two after 36 and 44 minutes to make it 3-0 at the break.

Matthew Etherington and Jamie Redknapp went close before the scoring was completed midway through the second half by Sergei Rebrov, who netted following good work by Oyvind Leonhardsen.