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As large clouds enveloped the tops of the nearby mountains here last night, the future of Gareth Barry with Aston Villa at last became a lot clearer. Barring a last-minute change of heart, it would appear that he is staying with the club he has served for the past ten years. The projected £18million deal with Liverpool seems dead.

As if to signal his decision - although he has yet to voice it publicly - he played a leading role in seeing off the weak challenge of FH Hafnar-fjördur in the first leg of Villa's Uefa Cup second qualifying round tie. He scored one goal, made another and directed operations from the left of central midfield with authority.

That Barry started said a lot. By asking Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, to let him play, he made himself ineligible to represent another club in the Champions League until the knockout phase in February. Dare Liverpool resurrect a deal for a player unavailable in Europe? Hardly.

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• Barry ready to commit to Aston Villa

• Benitez still hopeful of signing Barry

A nagging doubt remains. What if Liverpool depart from the Champions League after the second leg of their qualifying tie against Standard Liège? They were not that convincing in the goalless draw in the first leg in Belgium on Wednesday night and an early exit could, perhaps, persuade Liverpool to revive the Barry deal.

O'Neill still urged caution. “I could not have been more pleased for Gareth when he scored,” he said. “I had a word with him before the game and he was in the right frame of mind. He wanted to play and he knew the consequences. The decision was very much his. Am I confident of keeping him? I was relatively confident before so I'll take things as they come.”

Villa had good company in the North Atlantic. Randy Lerner, the club's American owner, made a rare attendance at an away match, sitting snugly behind glass in an executive box at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium.

Fabio Capello, the England manager, also made an appearance to check on the form of Villa's English contingent, headed by Barry, Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor. With a squad to name tomorrow for the friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley four days later, it should have been an informative trip.

Barry's scriptwriters have not been too clever during the summer, but the opening seven minutes were almost like a fairytale. He scored with only four minutes gone and appeared almost embarrassed, barely celebrating. Three minutes later he threaded the ball through for Young to cut inside and curl a shot around Gunnar Sigurdsson. Agbonlahor guided in Villa's third goal - again, Capello will have liked what he saw - and after Matthias Gudmundsson had reduced the gap, Martin Laursen thundered in a similar effort from Young's corner.

FH Hafnarfjördur (4-5-1): G Sigurdsson 6 - H Eiriksson 5 (sub: G Saevarsson, 75min), B D Sverrison 3, H L Valgardsson 5, T Nielsen 4 - A Gudnason 4 (sub: J G Gardarsson, 75), D P Vidarson 4 (sub: A G Asgeirsson, 64 4), D Siim 4, M Vilhjallmsson 4, M Gudmundsson 6 - T Gudmundsson 5. Substitutes not used: D Larusson, BH Sverrisson, F Bjarnason, H A Hallfredsson. Booked: Nielsen, B D Sverrisson.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel 5 - C Gardner 5, C Davies 5, M Laursen 6, N Shorey 6 - N Reo-Coker 5, M Petrov 4 (sub: M Salifou, 66 4), G Barry 7, A Young 7 (sub: W Routledge, 72) - M Harewood 5, G Agbonlahor 6 (sub: N Delfouneso, 76). Substitutes not used: S Taylor, Z Knight, I Osbourne, N Baker. Booked: Barry.

Referee: R Matejek (Czech Republic).