Birmingham deep in trouble after Villa thrashing

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Aston Villa thrashed local rivals Birmingham City 5-1 on Sunday to take their goal tally to 15 in their last three Premier League games.

John Carew and Ashley Young both scored twice for Villa to leave City stuck in the relegation zone with three matches left to save themselves.

Sunderland are still not safe after losing 2-0 at Newcastle United in the day's second derby, Michael Owen scoring twice for Kevin Keegan's resurgent side at St James' Park.

Birmingham are third from bottom with 31 points, one behind Reading who sit just above the drop zone. Sunderland have 36.

Young fired Villa in front after 29 minutes and it was one-way traffic from then on.

His free-kick was headed in by Carew just before halftime and the Norwegian made it 3-0 early in the second half. The impressive Young made it 4-0 and although Mikael Forssell pulled one back, Gabriel Agbonlahor completed the rout.

Villa's victory put them sixth, three points behind fifth-placed Everton and raised their hopes of qualifying for next season's UEFA Cup.

"We were on the end of a bruising from a really good Villa side," Birmingham manager Alex McLeish told the BBC.