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Aston Villa got their UEFA Cup group stage campaign off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over Ajax at Villa Park.

In the absence of striker John Carew - a late withdrawal through illness - captain Martin Laursen (pictured) headed Villa into an early lead, only for defender Thomas Vermaelen to restore parity for Marco van Basten's side on 33 minutes.

But Gareth Barry's well-placed strike on the stroke of half-time proved to be the winner as Villa took all three points to put them top of Group F, level on points with Hamburg who had earlier beaten Slovakian outfit Zilina by the same scoreline.

Ajax started the brighter of the two sides and enjoyed most of the possession during the opening stages of the match.

But that counted for nothing when Ashley Young's eighth minute corner found a soaring Laursen in the penalty box. Goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer challenged but the Villa captain rose a little higher and was able to plant a firm header into the back of an unguarded net.

Ajax hit back on 22 minutes, again from a corner. This time it was Urby Emanuelson who centred and Vermaelen who met it at the near post with a header that flashed across Brad Friedel in the Villa goal.

The visitors could easily have taken the lead on the half hour mark when another corner caused problems in the Villa penalty area; Luis Suarez flicked on at the near post, but a stretching Klaas Jan Huntelaar could not direct his far post effort on target.

At the other end, Young continued to threaten and on 37 minutes the England Under-21 international could - and probably should - have put Villa into the lead for a second time. But instead of finding the target after James Milner's deflected cross fell kindly to him, he dragged his volley wide of the mark.

There was no such profligacy in front of goal eight minutes later when Barry found the corner of the net with a precise finish from Young's pull back to the edge of the box.

It was the perfect time to score and a blow which Ajax were unable to recover from.

After a high-tempo opening period, the second half was decidedly more sedate, although Vermeer was a busy man before an hour was on the clock, the Ajax keeper having to make smart saves to deny Nicky Shorey his first goal in a Villa shirt and Barry a second of the night.

But despite a poor start to their domestic season, Ajax always posed a threat, even if Huntelaar rarely showed why he is coveted by some of the continent's biggest clubs.

Instead, it was left to substitute Dario Cvitanich - with a header over the bar - and Urby Emanuelson - with a super half volley from outside the box - to give Friedel most cause for concern.

But Villa held firm and Barry could even have sealed an impressive personal display with a great strike with the outside of his boot as time ran out; Vermeer was well-placed to make the save.

One black spot on an otherwise blemish-free night for Villa came in injury time when Gabriel Agbonlahor was stretchered off the pitch with a knee complaint following a collision with Vermeer. The England man will undergo tests before the extent of the injury is revealed.

Zilina 1-2 Hamburg

In Slovakia, forward Mladen Petric, whose goal for Croatia at Wembley last year ended England's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008, got the first goal after 15 minutes for Hamburg.

Ivica Olic added a second for Martin Jol's side before half-time as Hamburg secured an important win despite substitute Emil Rilke's second-half strike for Zilina.

Eurosport