Middlesbro' 1
Rochemback 13
Aston Villa 3
Gardner 45, Moore 70, Petrov 77
Middlesbrough 1 Aston Villa 3 April 14 2007
Aston Villa broke past the 40-point safety barrier as Craig Gardner, Luke Moore and Stiliyan Petrov all scored in a win at Middlesbrough.
Boro struck the opening blow in the 13th minute when Fabio Rochemback blasted a 30-yard free-kick towards goal and Thomas Sorensen saw the ball squirm from his grasp and drop over the line.
The Teessiders looked comfortable after going ahead, but were pegged back on the stroke of half-time when Gabriel Agbonlahor escaped down the right and crossed for Gardner to control and fire home for his first Premiership goal for Villa.
The midlands club grabbed the lead when Ashley Young sent a 17th-minute free-kick into the box and Martin Laursen headed down for substitute Moore to rifle home.
And Petrov hit a third in the 77th minute to wrap up the three points and send Martin O'Neill's men into the top half of the table.