Villa defeat Birmingham in second city derby

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Aston Villa have won the Midlands derby 1-0 against Birmingham at St Andrews. It turned out to be a quiet game with both sides looking like they didn’t want to make a mistake. The game lacked clear cut chances. Villa keeper Brad Friedel and opposite number Joe Hart were not troubled until Villa boss Martin O’Neill decided to gamble.

The Irishman threw on big striker John Carew and the giant striker’s appearance proved pivotal. The Norwegian striker headed down an Ashley Young free-kick right in to the path of England striker Gabriel Agbonlahor who beat his defender to the ball and headed in to the bottom corner of the net. Villa’s new signings at the back Richard Dunne, Stephen Warnock and James Collins all looked solid and the Blues never looked likely to come back.

The victory takes Aston Villa up to ninth place in the Premier League table. It leaves their neighbours in 14th place. Villa have managed to turn their season around after suffering a first day home defeat to Wigan Athletic.