Barry on target in Villa victory

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In front of watching England coach Fabio Capello in Reykjavik, Barry - whose appearance means he would be cup-tied in the Champions League should he move to Liverpool - capitalised on some terrible defending to stab Villa's opener in the fourth minute.

Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor also scored first-half goals at the Laugardalsvollur Stadium and although Matthias Gudmundsson pulled one back, Martin Laursen's second-half header secured his side a comfortable lead to take back to Villa Park.

Barry has been a target for Liverpool all summer and lost the captaincy for criticising Villa boss Martin O'Neill's handling of the move, but the former Celtic boss seemed to have put that behind him as he included the England international in his starting line-up .

Villa made an ideal start when Young whipped the ball into the box and some calamitous defending left Barry with a simple task to power the ball past goalkeeper Gunnar Sigurdsson from close range.

Young quickly made it 2-0 with a delightful individual effort. Finding himself in space on the left, he moved inside unopposed before turning a defender and sidefooting the ball in off the post to double the lead after seven minutes.

And Agbonlahor matched Young's strike with a solo goal seven minutes before the break. Receiving the pass from deep, he charged forward and showed determination to round two defenders before beating Sigurdsson with a cool finish.

Hafnarfjordur then got the goal they deserved as Matthias Gudmundsson stooped to head home Tryggvi Gudmundsson's cross from the left.

But the tie was all but over in the 63rd minute when Laursen made it 4-1 - with the influential Young providing the assist. As the young winger lifted a corner into the area, the classy Danish defender found himself in space to nod home.

Villa head home with a healthy lead to defend in the return leg a fortnight from now and while Capello may have travelled to Iceland primarily to watch Barry, Young was undoubtedly the most impressive Englishman on the field on the night.