Kick-off: 12:00
Venue: St Andrews Stadium
Attendance: 29312
Referee: Poll, G

Live Commentary

90mins

Villa end their 22 year drought at St. Andrews with a Kevin Phillips 19th minute strike

86mins

Damien Johnson is booked for a foul on James Milner

84mins

Mikael Forssell is booked for unsporting behaviour as he prevents Villa taking an early free kick

83mins

Thomas Sorensen diffuses the danger as he catches a Jermaine Pennant cross

77mins

A 25-yard shot from Dunn, who is taking hold of the game for Birmingham, is easily caught by Sorensen

74mins

Juan Pablo Angel clears Jermaine Pennant's inswinging corner to ease the pressure on Villa

69mins

David Dunn is through again and opens up to shoot which the outstretching Thomas Sorensen can't reach but the shot is just wide

67mins

David Dunn nearly has a dream start as his shot from six yards out is blocked by Ridgewell

66mins

The injured Gareth Barry is replaced by Patrik Berger and for the Blues Jamie Clapham is replaced by David Dunn

64mins

Kevin Phillips makes way for Juan Pablo Angel with just under half an hour to go

59mins

Heskey is through but can't control the ball and it goes out for a goal kick

57mins

Jermaine Pennant's cross is headed on target by Matthew Upson from 18-yards but Thomas Sorensen takes no chances and punches the ball clear for a corner. Luke Moore clears the danger from Jermaine Pennant's corner

53mins

Jiri Jarosik has a go from 20-yards but drills his right-footed shot into Liam Ridgewell who blocks the shot

46mins

The second half gets underway

45mins

A deserved Villa lead at half time who have dominated play so far

41mins

James Milner's cross is latched on to by Luke Moore who's 12 yard header misses to the right

39mins

The injured Stephen Clemence is replaced by Jiri Jarosik

30mins

Olof Mellberg is booked for a foul on Stephen Clemence

28mins

Walter Pandiani unleashes a strike from 12 yards out which ends up straight into the arms of Thomas Sorensen

26mins

Kevin Phillips' dazzling run down the right side results in a corner for Villa

20mins

Olivier Tebily's cross is tipped over the bar by Thomas Sorensen for a corner. Jermaine Pennant's outswinging corner is cleared by Bouma

19mins

Gareth Barry's clever little back heel puts Kevin Phillips through who drills a left footed strike into the bottom-left of the goal

13mins

Heskey is played through by a ball over the top and Liam Ridgewell who was clearly beaten brings Heskey down and is booked

9mins

Emile Heskey finds himself clear of the defense and squares the ball across to Julian Gray who blasts the ball over the bar from six yards out

6mins

Damien Johnson fouls Kevin Phillips giving James Milner a chance to cross from the free kick which is cleared by Matthew Upson

3mins

Emile Heskey and Olof Mellberg are both down injured after a clash. The ref gives the free kick in favour of the defender

0mins

The game gets underway

Match Report

Kevin Phillips finally ended the Aston Villa jinx at St Andrew's when his crucial 19th minute goal helped David O'Leary's side to their first ever Premiership win over their near-neighbours at the seventh attempt.

It was also the first Premiership goal that Villa have scored in their Premiership games at St Andrew's and plunged Birmingham to their fourth home defeat of the season.

Villa have every reason to be pleased with their belated success as it lifts them four places in the table, while Birmingham now appear to be in serious trouble following their worst start to the season in many years.

The only plus point from the game for Birmingham was the return to action of David Dunn after a lengthy absence. He came on for the last 24 minutes and certainly created a good impression and indicated why he has been missed.

A big disappointment for City was their lack of striking power. Emile Heskey was generally off the pace and was kept under control by the highly mobile Olof Mellberg.

It was hardly surprising that in view of their indifferent record at St Andrew's, Villa made the more positive start. Phillips returned to the attack and partnered Luke Moore who was preferred to the club's record signing, Juan Pablo Angel.

This decision by O'Leary seemingly puts a question mark against Angel's future. He lost his place to Moore simply because he has not scored this season.

Despite Villa's early pressure, when Gareth Barry was often involved in the attacks, it was Birmingham who should have opened the scoring as early as the ninth minute.

After the industrious Steven Davis had lost possession, Jermaine Pennant took advantage of the situation to produce a perfect cross from the right. Heskey flicked on the ball to the lurking Julian Gray who lashed his cross-shot wide of the far upright.

Villa's determination, which was in sharp contrast to some of their low-key performances this season, continued to be a feature of the game and in the 19th minute they stormed ahead through Phillips.

Eirik Bakke, making his first start, slipped a pass to Barry who flicked the ball into the path of Phillips to notch only his second goal for Villa since his move from Southampton with an accurate left-foot shot.

Surprisingly the tempo slackened after the goal as if Villa were content to hang onto their slender advantage. In such circumstances they were dangerous tactics but Birmingham could not lift their game to take advantage of the situation.

City also suffered a setback when they lost Stephen Clemence with a leg injury just before the break. Manager Steve Bruce decided not to draft in Dunn at this stage, instead preferring former Chelsea man, Jiri Jarosik, to take over the crucial midfield role.

In an attempt to inject more pressure Bruce sent on Mikael Forssell for the generally ineffective Walter Pandiani for the second half.

But it was Jarosik who emerged as Birmingham's driving force as they subjected Villa to some early pressure which often left their local rivals more than a little bemused.

Only a timely intervention by Wilfred Bouma prevented a serious situation for Villa when he robbed Heskey as the big striker was about to shoot.

Angel and Patrik Berger replaced Phillips and Barry respectively but the most significant change was the introduction of Dunn for his first appearance since Boxing Day.

Within a minute of replacing Jamie Clapham only a late tackle by Aaron Hughes prevented a dramatic equaliser from Dunn.

The game should have been settled in the 70th minute when Davis put Angel clear only for the Colombian striker to lob the ball over the bar to highlight why he has been struggling to score this season.

As Birmingham applied non-stop pressure in the closing stages Dunn was unsuccessful with a penalty appeal after being floored which only summed up an indifferent team performance.

Birmingham City Team

Aston Villa Team

Birmingham City

Aston Villa

Corners

Fouls

Goal attempts

Shots off target

Offsides