Aston Villa 2 Middlesbrough 3: Rows of empty seats, Villa's worst start to a Premiership season and chants of "What a load of rubbish" reverberating around the stadium: Doug Ellis and David O'Leary would appear to have an early-season crisis on their hands.

To compound the home fans' misery, George Boateng a former Villa player, scored one and set up another as Middlesbrough recorded a second away win of the season that was far more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

Villa have won only once in 13 Premiership matches, a sequence that suggests staving off the threat of relegation and not pushing for a Uefa Cup place should be the limit of their ambitions.

Middlesbrough, in contrast, will welcome the three points that rarely follow exertions into Europe. Only once before yesterday had Steve McClaren's side picked up a victory after a Uefa Cup tie, and that also was against Villa.

"We should come here every week," said McClaren, basking in victory. Other Premiership teams might be saying the same if Villa continue to play like this. O'Leary's side appeared not only bereft of ideas but passion too. Only during a brief 10-minute spell after Luke Moore's equaliser did they find any sort of rhythm; that apart they were woeful. "I thought it was poor, no excuses," said O'Leary. "Fans will voice their opinion and that was not good enough today.

"They came for a draw and we gifted them three goals and if you gift teams goals you are asking for trouble. I thought the team we had there today can give a lot, lot better performance but if we keep giving goals away like we did today we are making life hard for ourselves."

Yakubu Aiyegbeni, who scored his third and fourth goals in a Middlesbrough shirt, was Villa's tormentor. McClaren was effusive in his praise of Aiyegbeni. He paid £7.5million for the 22-year-old striker in the summer, though it already looks like a sound investment. "Yakubu was fantastic," the Middlesbrough manager said. "He showed why we put our faith in him. He was up there on his own but he was such a threat for 90 minutes and it bodes well for the future. He's not just got pace; he can hold the ball up and play a pass."

He can also take advantage of generous defending, and there was plenty of that from Villa yesterday. Emanuel Pogatetz's deep cross appeared to be harmless enough but Wilfred Bouma, who has endured a torrid time since joining from PSV Eindhoven in August, ballooned a poor defensive header into the path of Aiyegbeni. The Nigerian drilled a low volley past Thomas Sorensen.

Boro should have doubled their lead within two minutes when Fabio Rochemback's right-foot shot was comfortably saved by Sorensen. The Villa goalkeeper had less chance with the visitors' second. Rochemback's corner ran through to the far post, where Boateng, unmarked, fired a left-foot shot that nestled in the far corner.

Villa, in between, drew level when Moore dispatched Patrik Berger's mis-hit shot into the top corner, though any optimism disappeared with Boateng's goal and further torment followed when Samuel clipped the Dutchman's heels just inside the penalty area. Aiyegbeni stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick with consummate ease, sending Sorensen the wrong way.

Steven Davis's late strike might have embellished the score though it did not fool Villa's supporters, many of whom had already headed for the nearest exit.