Aston Villa hammered relegated Derby 6-0 at Pride Park in the Premier League.

Goals from Ashley Young, John Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry and Marlon Harewood were complemented by a wonder-strike from Bulgaria midfielder Stiliyan Petrov to move Martin O'Neill's side a point behind sixth-placed Portsmouth.

The match was over as a contest after Villa scored three goals in 10 minutes to put a poor Derby side to bed by half-time.

Young caused Andy Todd and Darren Moore problems all afternoon and it was his free-kick from the left that Roy Carroll flapped at under pressure from Martin Laursen. The Northern Ireland goalkeeper totally missed the ball and allowed Young to score the first of the match on 25 minutes.

The lead was doubled seconds later. Young went on another run down the left wing and drilled in a low ball that Agbonlahor almost converted. The loose ball was poked away by Todd but only fell to Carew on the edge of the box and the Norway striker put a low drive into the bottom left.

Derby's only real threat came from two free kicks that were wasted by Alan Stubbs, who sent both efforts low into the wall.

The gulf in class was apparent and best highlighted when the hapless Carroll sent a clearance to the half-way line and could only stand and watch when Petrov took the ball on his chest and sent a David Beckham-esque half-volley over the Derby shot-stopper and into the top left corner.

It was one of the goals of the season and the technique in execution would have beaten any keeper.

Villa came close to making it 4-0 immediately from the kick-off when Carroll flapped again, but they did extend their lead when, 12 minutes into a tepid second half, Gareth Barry finished from close range after Agbonlahor's shot was palmed away by Carroll.

The visitors showed no mercy and continued to press for more. Laursen, Barry and Carew all went close before Agbonlahor raced onto a long ball and fired past Carroll for 5-0 with less than a quarter of an hour left.

Substitute Harewood scored an almost identical goal with five minutes remaining to rub salt into the wounds and leave Derby counting the days until the end of the season.

Reda Maher / Eurosport