Read Sachin Nakrani’s match report from St Andrew’s:
And that’s yer lot. A decent game without being a proper classic. Both sides will probably be disappointed not to have won, which probably means a draw was a fair result. Probably. Birmingham go up to seventh, and Villa are now up one to 15th.
Cheers for reading, and now have a look at Everton v West Ham in the Prem. Daniel Harris is taking you through that one.
Full-time: Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa
Peeeeeeeep-peeeeeeeep-peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
90 mins + 11: McCormack delivers the cross, but this time Dean somehow finds a foul in the Birmingham box by a Villa player. What a maverick this man is.
90 mins + 10: But wait: a free-kick for Villa, about 40 yards out on the right...
90 mins + 9: A throw for Birmingham. It’s eventually launched into the box by Morrison, towards Jutkiewicz, but it’s too long and that might be that.
90 mins + 7: Agbonlahor has a minor case of the Gazzas in the 1991 FA Cup final. He chases Maghoma down frantically then hacks him to the ground, about two yards in front of the linesman, then bafflingly claims innocence.
90 mins + 6: After about four minutes break, we’re back, and a minor goalmouth scramble ends as referee Dean finds a free-kick from somewhere to give to Villa.
90 mins + 4: Wiggins is being loaded very carefully onto a stretcher. Looks bad.
90 mins + 2: Oxygen mask for Wiggins. Ach, poor lad. Looks like the old warhorse Paul Robinson will come on his his place.
90 mins + 1: Wiggins drives inside from the left and finds enough room for a shot, which he takes and it flicks off a defender, completely wrong-footing Gollini but it scuttles just, just wide of the post. Of more concern for Wiggins is that he seemed to collide with a defender just after the shot, he’s down on the turf and looks in serious bother.
90 mins: Maghoma is rapidly closed down by Agbonlahor but a little too aggressively, and the Villa man gives away a free-kick. Five minutes of added time.
89 mins: Villa try to tee up a crossing chance, but it comes from Amavi and he hoys it far too long from the left.
87 mins: Big guns for Villa now: Rudy Gestede is on, and it’s in place of Westwood. That’s four forwards on the pitch for Bruce’s boys now.
Updated
86 mins: Shotton gets away with one as he tries to take the ball around McCormack on the edge of his own box, the striker tackles him but fortunately for the Brum man, it goes out for a goal-kick.
85 mins: Corner for Birmingham from the left, which Cotterill swings over, Shotton rises and heads back into the middle from the back post, but Morrison can only stab over the bar from inside the six-yard box. Big chance that.
84 mins: Wiggins booms a cross over from the left, it drops to Cotterill but he hesitates while deciding whether to shoot first-time or control it, and ends up doing neither.
81 mins: Agbonlahor gets involved straight away, laying the ball back to McCormack, but his shot is deflected wide. From the corner, Kodjia wins the header but diverts it wide.
80 mins: Now then: set your narrative-o-meters to heavy. A sub for Villa, as Gabriel Agbonlahor comes on for Ayew. This is his first involvement since March, and until Bruce arrived it very much looked like he would never play for Villa again. But here he is.
79 mins: Villa corner from the left. Ayew can’t beat the first man, it breaks to Kodjia whose shot is blocked. Birmingham haven’t quite harnessed the momentum from their goal a few minutes ago.
76 mins: What a chance! Davis skims a cross into the box for Jutkiewicz, who nods it down towards Spector, he lets it go to Donaldson in space around 12 yards from goal, but he drags his shot wide. Half of the crowd were up in anticipation of the goal.
75 mins: Gardner is allowed to run through the middle of the Birmingham midfield, he slides a lovely pass through to Kodjia in the Thierry Henry position, but he’s just offside.
74 mins: The home fans are in better voice now, with that chant encouraging all and sundry to “void their bowels on the Villa”. Or words to that effect.
71 mins: Cotterill is straight into the action, making a fine run down the right and to the byline. His cross is half-cleared, makes its way to Davis on the edge of the box and sidesteps around one challenge, but creates enough space to fire a low shot into the bottom corner, perhaps via a small deflection. He repeats Gardner’s celebration, running around with a crazed look in his eyes, but adds the variation of removing his shirt, which of course earns him a booking.
GOAL! Birmingham 1-1 Aston Villa (Davis 71)
Well, not quite so happy now.
Updated
70 mins: A quiet spell. Bruce will presumably be delighted with how this is going. Here comes another change for Birmingham, as David Cotterill replaces Kieftenbeld.
68 mins: The Birmingham crowd have their most uplifting moment of the half so far, as McCormack tumbles over the advertising boards. Thin gruel otherwise for Blues.
65 mins: The linesman gives one of the most ludicrously wrong decisions you’ll see, as the ball bounces off Hutton’s shins about two feet away from the official, but he gives the throw to Villa. Fortunately for the sake of truth, justice and the footballing way, the throw comes to nothing.
64 mins: Change for Birmingham, which suggests, shall we say, a change in tactics: big Lukas Jutkiewicz is on for Che Adams.
62 mins: Gleeson looks in some pain after winning a challenge them sliding into Ayew - unintentional on the part of both men - and took a whack to the knee.
60 mins: Birmingham much the better side in the second half, but they’re still having problems creating too many clear chances. Another attack fizzles as Kieftenbeld swipes at the ball with his left, and misses.
57 mins: Some interesting decisions from ref Dean. Jedinak and Gleeson go for a ball in the air, both collide at about the same point, neither goes to ground, neither claim much: free-kick to Villa.
55 mins: Ayew streaks down the left and clips a nice cross into the middle, but McCormack seems to mistime his jump and the ball eludes him. Birmingham try to counter, but Westwood cynically takes down Maghoma as he sprints down the left, and gets a fully deserved booking.
53 mins: Huge chance for Birmingham, as Maghoma takes advantage of Hutton dithering on the ball and sets himself through on goal, but the Villa right-back does well to get back and at least put the winger off. His shot is scuffed and straight at Gollini, and while the ball gets back to Maghoma, he loses his footing, eventually shovelling the ball somewhere near the goal, but it’s scrambled clear.
Updated
52 mins: Free-kick to Brum in the centre circle, which Shotton clips into the box for Morrison. He wins the header back to Kieftenbeld, but his volley goes over.
50 mins: Kodjia is down again, sent to the turf via a knee in the small of his back from Shotton. He’s not happy with either the pain or not even getting a free-kick for his troubles, but after some treatment he should be fine.
49 mins: Adams gets down the right, crosses and Donaldson does well to hold the ball up in the box then lay it off to Spector, but his shot is sliced over. Birmingham then build another attack as Maghoma cuts in from the left, but his low effort doesn’t have much power and Gollini saves easily.
Updated
47 mins: Spector seems to knock Ayew to the ground and then straddle his back, making returning to his feet tricky, at best, but nothing given from Renegade Dean.
46 mins: And we’re away for the second half. More boos for Brucie, but the atmosphere sounds significantly less lively among the home fans.
Without wishing to encourage reading anything but your super soaraway Guardian, you might be interested in these pieces about Steve Bruce’s extra-curricular hobby: novel-writing. He did three of them, remarkably.
And if you’d like to hear an extract from one of them read out loud, here’s Football Weekly from a couple of weeks back.
Good half for Villa. It’s not been 45 minutes of flowing, dominant football from Brucie’s boys, but they’ve been largely solid and have prevented Birmingham from creating much of note, beyond that Donaldson header that damn near went over the line. Great header for the goal. Great header.
Half-time: Birmingham City 0-1 Aston Villa
Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-peeeeeeeeeeeeep-peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Updated
45 mins + 4: A bit of space opens up in the middle for Birmingham, but again they can’t create something. That frustration from the crowd towards the ref might be a little misdirected.
45 mins + 2: Frustration grows in the home crowd as Kodjia trips himself up over Grounds’s torso, but a free-kick is given to the away team. Rowett is not best pleased.
45 mins: Five minutes of added time to come.
44 mins: McCormack tries to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick under pressure from Che Adams, but it rebounds off his shin and goes out for a corn...oh, no, hello Mike Dean - a goal-kick is given. Forever the maverick, is Deano.
42 mins: Birmingham having trouble getting beyond about 40 yards from the Villa goal at the moment. They’re reduced to speculative long passes from deep, one of which Donaldson can’t control, another is too long for Spector down the right and possession is donated right back to Villa.
40 mins: Spector has his legs whipped away by Gardner, and here’s a chance for Birmingham to threaten from the free-kick on the right. Maghoma sticks it into the box and finds Shotton, but it goes over.
38 mins: Kodjia down on the turf after an aerial challenge with Shotton. The Brum centre-half was pretty robust but it looked like more his heavy landing on his left leg that caused the problem.
37 mins: Amavi gets the ball on the left, starts to lose control of it but then takes advantage of a slight hint of breath on his neck from Davis, and goes down. It works, as Dean gives the free-kick.
35 mins: Not vintage football in the last few minutes. Morrison gives the ball straight to Westwood, who clips it over the top of the defence looking for the run of Gardner, but Shotton scoots over and clears.
32 mins: It’d be a stretch to say Villa have been the better team, but man alive what a header that was. Sky summariser David Prutton describes Donaldson as “no slug” in the air. You sort of know what he’s getting at.
29 mins: From that free-kick, Ayew whips the ball to the far post and Gary Gardner wrestles his way in front of Donaldson, his nominal marker, and powers a header into the top corner from about 12 yards out. He then runs the length of the pitch to celebrate with the Villa fans. Lovely scenes.
GOAL! Birmingham City 0-1 Aston Villa (Gardner 29)
What a header!
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28 mins: More pain for Villa players, as Ayew goes to the turf clutching his face and it’s hardly a surprise: he received a Kieftenbeld boot to the mush, right in front of the referee, who books him.
27 mins: Poppy update: Bruce seems not to be wearing one. Scandal!
25 mins: This is what the linesman had to deal with, by the way. All the best being certain either way.
#BCFC fans thought their team had scored! But Mike Dean brings the celebrations to a halt. Did it cross the line?SS2 https://t.co/zz3Bhgh33a pic.twitter.com/HUNIkxjtqE
— Sky Sports EFL ⚽️ (@SkySportsEFL) October 30, 2016
Meanwhile, Adomah isn’t able to continue, and Ross McCormack is on in his place. One imagines that will mean a change in formation as well as personnel. Also Steve Bruce apparently isn’t happy about the challenge from Kuzczak that has laid Adomah low.
24 mins: Brilliant work from Spector, popping up in central midfield for some reason, and he puts it over the top of the defence for Donaldson. He shifts the ball from the left onto his right foot, shoots, but over.
20 mins: Villa counter-attack straight away with a long ball down the pitch, and Kuzczak comes out with some gusto to clear, and wipes out Adomah. The ball breaks to Westwood who shoots well wide, but Adomah needs treatment and walks off the pitch very gingerly.
19 mins: GOA......NO! That looked in - Shotton collects the ball at the back stick from, clips it back into the middle and Donaldson, about three yards out, heads the ball against the underside of the bar, and it’s eventually scooped away. Birmingham claim the goal, but the lino says it didn’t cross the line - replays suggest it didn’t when it bounced, but it might have done on the way down from the crossbar. Still, with a player and a post in the way, that was impossible to give.
Updated
16 mins: Spector, possibly contemplating replacing the plastic fruit next to the sky effect background in his studio, takes down Ayew and gets a talking to from the thus far quiet Mike Dean.
15 mins: Brief moment of uncertainty in the Villa box as Chester encourages Gollini to come out and pick up a loose ball, but his reticence means the Villa skipper firstly puts his foot through the thing, then gives his keeper daggers.
13 mins: Gardner heads the ball into the box looking for Ayew, but his arm flies up and flaps the ball away. Free-kick. He went up for that ball with Spector, who looks more like a family portrait photographer than a footballer. Has a nice little studio in the precinct. The mums really like him.
12 mins: Maghoma skims a corner over from the right, looking for Shotton in the middle, but it’s headed clear before it reaches him.
10 mins: Shotton - with dyed blue dreadlocks, obviouslpy - blocks a Wiggins cross from the left, then he and Adomah go for the loose ball and clash in shuddering fashion. The Brum man got the better of it, but limps away. That said, a breezeblock would’ve limped away from that one.
8 mins: The first Villa chance to create something comes via a free-kick on the left, which Ayew swings over...well, I say swings over: it doesn’t beat the first man.
7 mins: Poppy watch: Gary Rowett has opted for the metal pin badge approach, affixed to his left breast. Haven’t spotted anything on Bruce yet, more as we get it.
5 mins: Spector belts over a cross from the right but Chester manages to clear. Birmingham with the majority of play, but haven’t managed to get anything like fluidity thus far. Another cross is launched towards Donaldson in the middle but he’s flagged offside.
3 mins: Scrappy first few minutes. Amavi tries to get the derby started by putting in the first reducer of the game, wiping out Kieftenbeld on the Blues right. Looking at it again he seemed to go in with two feet, and, well....you’ve seen them given.
1 min: And we’re away, Aston Villa kicking off, and will play right-to-left in the first half, clad in the ol’ claret and blue.
A few Blues boos as Brucie strides down the touchline. Smartly shielded himself by strolling out at the same time as Rowett, though.
Sounds like there’s an atmosphere in Brum. Lovely bit of business. The teams, plus Mr Michael Dean, are in the tunnel and pumped.
“I just hope it’s a good clean match, and that they don’t give Steve Bruce too much hassle,” roars an old lady outside St Andrew’s.
The real big event...
At St Andrew's for Birmingham v Aston Villa. You know it's a big game because celebrity ref Mike Dean is in charge pic.twitter.com/ZOGULzwqUf
— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) October 30, 2016
And, of course, step forwards Peter Enckleman. Sorry Pete.
Here’s the last time the two teams met in the second tier, in 1987. Where does the time go, eh?
2008. Villa giving Birmingham what’s known as a ‘right shoeing’. Featuring big John Carew.
Here’s Dion Dublin firstly going right through Robbie Savage’s ankles, then sticking the nut on him, and then looking surprised when he was sent off. Lovely stuff.
And here’s a selection of highlights from derbies past, starting with things getting nawty after a League Cup game in 2010.
Interesting team news from Villa, there. Looks like it’ll just be one up front, with Rudy Gestede joining Ross McCormack on the bench. For Blues the big one is in nets, as Tomasz Kuszczak replaces Adam Legzdins, his first start since September 10. Clayton Donaldson comes in for Lukas Jutkiewicz up top.
Team news
Birmingham City
Kuszczak; Spector, Morrison, Shotton, Wiggins; Kieftenbeld, Davis, Gleeson; Maghoma, Adams, Donaldson. Subs: Legzdins, Robinson, Fabbrini, Cotterill, Jutkiewicz, Brown, Stewart.
Aston Villa
Gollini; Hutton, Chester, Baker, Amavi; Jedinak; Adomah, Westwood, Gardner, Ayew; Kodjia. Subs: Elphick, Tshibola, Agbonlahor, Gestede, Cissokho, Bunn, McCormack.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Preamble
Steve Bruce is the second Aston Villa manager to have taken Birmingham City down in recent years. But he is no Alex McLeish, and bringing him in might be the smartest thing Villa have done in ages. Admittedly, that’s not an especially high bar, but with his record (he’s won promotion in the last four seasons he’s managed in this division), they could hardly have found a safer pair of hands.
After Villa’s ropey start to the season under Roberto di Matteo, a fifth might look like a tall order, but they’re only seven points off the playoffs and a win here would put Birmingham under some pressure. “It will certainly help if you can get the result,” Bruce said this week. “Two weeks ago we were in the bottom three. If we do manage to turn them over we’d be three points behind them and sitting outside the play-offs. That’s got to be the long-term game and if we do make it three wins out of four it would be a smashing achievement for what we’re trying to achieve.”
Opposite Bruce, the old stager and experienced hand, will be Gary Rowett, one of the division’s brightest young managers. Having guided Blues through years of uncertainty as their chaotic ownership situation precluded him from really spending any money of note, that is now (almost) sorted and he can get on with being a normal manager. Rowett usually has a glass of wine before games as his team are warming up, but given this is a noon kick-off, that might be more of a struggle. “I might have a bottle for breakfast, I might even put it on my cornflakes!” he joked the other day. Or, at least, I hope he was joking.
This game is usually pretty spicy, and we’ll have some highlights from games past for you shortly.
Kick-off: 12.00 GMT
