Birmingham City 0 Aston Villa 1: match report

13 September 2009 14:07
They say that derbies are the great leveller. At least, that is what Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish had been hoping. But the Premier League reality is that the cream usually rises to the top eventually, regardless of the circumstances, and even if it took 85 minutes for Aston Villa to break the deadlock on this occasion, courtesy of Gabby Agbonlahor, they have once again secured the Birmingham bragging rights. The last time these two sides played it was a 5-1 goal-fest at Villa Park, but make no mistake: St Andrew’s was treated to nothing of the sort this afternoon. In fact, this match was at times so ugly it should have been played with the lights off. After 45 minutes the most entertaining episode had come when the St Andrew’s ground staff turned the sprinklers on some startled Villa substitutes who had ventured onto the pitch at half-time to practice. In the past, the Second City derby as it is known, has had its fair share of belligerence, and it was suitably vitriolic in the stands. But anyone who had come expecting to see all that testosterone seep onto the pitch would have left disappointed. A few solid tackles in the opening exchanges apart, there was nothing to get overly excited about. It was the second half before Howard Webb had to reach for a card. Fittingly, it had been Agbonlahor who caused the early trouble. In the seventh minute, the forward muscled Teemu Tainio out on the edge of the area, cutting the ball inside to James Milner, who took a touch to set himself up, but shot wide. Milner, clearly invigorated from having spent the last week with the national side, had another chance in the 21st minute, Agbonlahor once again in the thick of things. The striker broke down the right, squaring the ball to Milner who had made a beeline to the penalty spot. Had the winger made a decent connection with the ball it would surely have been a goal, but he didn’t, and the chance went begging. Ten minutes later it was Birmingham’s turn, Garry O’Connor flicking a ball through to Lee Bowyer, who had no one with him in support. Left with no other option, Bowyer fired goalwards, Brad Friedel parrying behind his own goal. The corner came to little directly, but Kevin Fahey picked up on a loose ball and sent a long range shot fizzing unchecked through a gormless Villa defence, just wide of the post. The second half started as the first had finished: scrappy, nothing special. Sensing – one can’t guess how – that the match required a shift in direction, Martin O’Neill brought on John Carew, and almost immediately Steve Sidwell had a header saved from point-blank range by Joe Hart, after Milner had swung in a cross from the left sideline. Seven minutes later Ashley Young stroked a free kick into the box, which was headed back by Carew to Agbonlahor to head uncontested into the net.

Source: Telegraph