Birmingham City 2 Aston Villa 1: Birmingham Mail match report, player analysis and pictures
Dec 2 2010 by Gregg Evans, Birmingham Mail
NIKOLA Zigic was the hero as his 84th-minute goal secured Blues a Carling Cup semi-final against West Ham at the expense of bitter rivals Villa.
His winner sparked wild celebrations and ugly scenes following a pitch invasion at St Andrew’s as a fiercely-contested Second City derby ended in chaos.
Both sets of fans threw missiles at each other, including flares, before order was restored.
Young Villa midfielder Jonathan Hogg had come in for veteran Robert Pires while Gabby Agbonlahor replaced John Carew up front. Both Pires and Carew were relegated to the bench.
For Blues, Zigic replaced the injured Aleksandr Hleb as the hosts started with a 4-4-2 formation as they sought to claim the bragging rights for the first time in eight games.
Both sides looked nervous in the early exchanges as the two sets of fans rallied their troops.
It was a special atmosphere – one that could only be generated from a game of this importance.
And it was the home crowd who were jumping for joy after just 12 minutes.
As Villa’s defence struggled to clear their lines, Cameron Jerome battled to win the ball in the box.
He squared it to Lee Bowyer but a rash tackle from Richard Dunne sent the former England international tumbling.
Referee Chris Foy pointed straight to the spot and Sebastian Larsson placed the ball down in front of Villa’s travelling support.
His spot-kick wasn’t the greatest penalty but it sent Brad Friedel the wrong way, and St Andrew’s went absolutely crazy.
Villa were in trouble and had the difficult task of breaking down a Blues side well known for their ability to hold on to slender advantages.
The visitors tried desperately to get at the home side’s backline but they were struggling to produce the kind of killer ball that Agbonlahor was craving.
On 26 minutes Blues could have doubled their lead had it not been for an excellent last-ditch tackle by Luke Young.
Larsson fed Zigic and the Serbian looked certain to score from eight yards out but Young intercepted.
The giant striker was again in the thick of the action as he had a goal ruled out for offside.
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