Aston Villa returned to second place in the Premiership last night without suggesting that Juninho, whom they are hoping to sign from Atletico Madrid this week, would be surplus to requirements. A lack of attacking flair might have denied them victory had Everton not played a man short for 80 minutes.

Eventually Villa won 3-0, Julian Joachim scoring twice, and if they had accepted more of their opportunities they might have achieved the five-goal margin which would have removed Chelsea from the top of the table.

Players can protest and managers may moan but, under the present strict interpretation of the law governing fouls and misconduct, Alec Cleland was a red card waiting to happen, and he did not have to wait long. Having been cautioned for tripping Joachim in the ninth minute, the Everton defender then upended Dion Dublin from behind in the 10th.

The dismissal was a formality and, with Cleland's departure, any hope Everton might have cherished of stealing an unlikely victory vanished.

Playing against Everton must be like getting lost in a sticky toffee pudding, and even after Cleland had departed, Villa struggled for a time to find the accuracy and imagination needed to create space in the last third of the field. For much of the first half the football drifted untidily back and forth like tumbleweed, and Juninho began to look a snip at £11 million.

Then, just when the match had become about as entertaining as the traffic jams on the M6 which delayed the kick-off by 15 minutes, the sharp responses of Joachim thwarted Everton's hopes of a ninth goalless draw.

In the 39th minute, Olivier Dacourt having fouled Dublin near the left-hand touchline, Lee Hendrie swung a carefully flighted free-kick to the far post, Ian Taylor nodded the ball down and Joachim drove it into the net. Their frustrations over, Villa relaxed - almost too much.

Within three minutes their defence had been caught on the hop by a quickly taken free-kick which found Ibrahim Bakayoko haring through the middle. Gareth Southgate hooked the ball away before he could shoot but it was still looping towards the net until Michael Oakes, off his line, arched back and tipped it over the bar.

That turned out to be the only significant save the Villa goalkeeper had to make. Towards the end Everton pushed forward in attack but, playing as cautiously as they do, they will always struggle once they have fallen behind.

Four minutes into the second half what was left of the contest disappeared as Joachim gathered Hendrie's first-time through-pass, outpaced the chugging Dave Watson and beat Thomas Myhre with another emphatic shot.

For Stan Collymore, who had replaced the injured Dublin at half-time, it was surely an opportunity to make hay and convince John Gregory he ought not to be starting on the bench. Instead he dillied and dallied, lost his way and did not know where to go.

Villa's third goal, 12 minutes from the end, was scored by another substitute, Paul Merson, who finished firmly after Steve Watson had headed back Joachim's centre. Merson's position would come under most threat should Gregory sign Juninho - but it would hardly be good news for Collymore either.