Birmingham City 0, Aston Villa 1: Mat Kendrick's big match verdict

Sep 14 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

There certainly was and after grabbing an 87th-minute winner last time around, his effort two minutes earlier on this occasion even gave Villa chance to extend their lead.

Indeed it was Agbonlahor himself and then a combination of Carew and James Milner who wastefully spurned the late openings.

With Blues committing men forward during a desperate search for an equaliser, O’Neill’s counter-attacking specialists should have scored when Young launched a rapid raid, only for Agbonlahor’s attempted lob to float over the bar as well as Birmingham keeper Joe Hart.

Milner, who on a rare off-day squandered a host of half-chances and hit several misplaced passes, would surely have scored from an even better break in the closing stages, but Carew’s ball was too heavy for the winger as Villa outnumbered their hosts.

Not that Villa needed the cushion of a second goal, given how magnificently their three defensive debutants performed as the manager’s gamble more than paid off.

Despite winning with a clean sheet in the previous game against Fulham, O’Neill chose to rest rookie teenager Ciaran Clark and both full-backs Nicky Shorey and Habib Beye.

But new-boys Richard Dunne, James Collins and Stephen Warnock looked like they had been playing together throughout their careers rather than a matter of minutes.

Dunne spoke before the game of the chance to become instant heroes and he, Collins and Warnock did just that as they put their bodies on the line to protect the Villa goal.

It would be unfair to praise the defence without a special mention for Carlos Cuellar, who produced his best display for Villa despite returning to right-back.

The Spaniard set the tone for Villa’s resolute rearguard action with an impeccably-timed tackle to take the ball off Roger Johnson’s shooting boot midway through the first half.

There was good reason for Blues fans to feel a little aggrieved about the result after generating a partisan atmosphere which lifted their players and closed the gap between O’Neill’s haves and McLeish’s have-nots.

But after charging over the odds for entry to yesterday’s game at least Birmingham threw in a free gift of a goal.