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Aston Villa thrashed Wigan 4-0 at the JJB Stadium as they returned to winning ways in the league.

A first-half penalty by Gareth Barry and second-half strikes from Gabby Agbonlahor and substitutes John Carew and Steve Sidwell secured a straightforward win for Martin O'Neill's side.

The decisive moment of the match came midway through the first half when referee Michael Jones controversially awarded Villa a penalty for a tackle by Titus Bramble on Agbonlahor as the striker raced towards the byline on the left of the Wigan box.

Jones ruled that Agbonlahor had been fouled by Bramble, but the error-prone defender had good cause to feel aggrieved at the decision. While Bramble's follow-through did bring down the Villa striker, he did also get a boot to the ball before the Villa striker.

Barry slid the penalty into the bottom-left corner of the net to register his first league goal of the season.

Before the penalty the match had been evenly contested, with Wigan creating the best chance when Olivier Kapo drove over the bar from the edge of the box after quarter of an hour. But with a goal cushion, Villa were able to sit back and pick Wigan off on the break - a tactic that worked to devastating effect in the second half.

Barry was injured shortly after the re-start, which prompted the introduction of Carew, who had been left out amid reports that he had been spotted in a Birmingham strip club the night before Villa's Uefa Cup tie with Ajax in midweek.

The Norwegian wasted no time in showing his manager what he was missing in leaving him out, as the striker flicked on Ashley Young's corner to tee up Agbonlahor for the second goal on 58 minutes.

Two minutes later Agbonlahor returned the compliment by setting up Carew for Villa's third. The speedy striker arrowed a cross from the left byline on to Carew's head in the six-yard box, and the giant forward made no mistake with his finish.

Sidwell added the fourth for Villa a minute before full-time. The midfielder cut on to his right foot on the edge of the Wigan box before driving the ball into the top-right corner.

While the result leaves Villa flying high in fourth in the table (at least until Arsenal and West Ham finish their four o'clock clash at Upton Park), Steve Bruce's side lie in 15th with just eight points from nine games.

Ben Phillips / Eurosport