July 25th, 99

Photos

East Rutherford, NJ (www.football365.com) -- Villa were taken apart by Gabriel Batistuta in a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Fiorentina in the final of the Gotham Cup in East Rutherford, New Jersey last night. The 30-year-old Argentinian forward, in his ninth season with the Italian Serie A side, scored twice and was voted Most Valuable Player of the four-club tournament. Batistuta was substituted due to heat exhaustion after 68 minutes but the damage had already been done with his side 3-0 ahead of the bemused Midlanders.

Pedrag Mijatovic opened the scoring when he trapped a pass from midfielder Manuel Rui Costa just outside the six-yard box and slammed it into the net on 19th minutes.

Batistuta made his first telling contribution after 36 minutes when burst into the box only to be held back by Villa captain Gareth Southgate. Batistuta picked himself up to score from the resultant penalty.

Three minutes later, Villa were given a chance to cut the deficit when defender Pasquale Padalino was penalised for handball but striker Dion Dublin's spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.

Batistuta then made his presence felt again shortly after the break when he raced on to a defence-splitting pass from Mijatovic and calmly beat keeper David James for the third.

Rui Costa completed the Premiership side's misery with the fourth goal shortly after Batistuta's departure.

''The scoreboard shows that we got a bit of a thrashing,'' admitted Villa manager John Gregory. ''We had a mountain to climb when we trailed 2-0. I thought we were given a lesson in how to finish off a match.'' Despite the heavy defeat by Fiorentina, Gregory saw the exercise in America as useful preparation for the forthcoming season.

''The object was to come here to play in difficult conditions against quality opposition, and I think we did a good job,'' he said.

Earlier, Panathinaikos beat Ajax 3-2 to claim third place in the event. Villa had beaten Ajax on penalties after a 2-2 draw on Friday night.

Fiorentina:
Toldo; Repka, Padalino, Pierini; Di Livio (72' Bressan), Rossitto (78' Amor), Rui Costa, Bettarini; Chiesa (20' Okon), Batistuta (68' Balbo), Mijatovic (78' Oliveira).

Aston Villa:
James, Watson (46' Delaney), Wright, Southgate, Ehiogu, Barry, Taylor (68' Stone), Boateng (46' Draper), Dublin, Joachim, Thompson (46' Hendrie).

Goals: Mijatovic 19', Batistuta 36', 48' and Rui Costa 87'