There’s a little bit of déjà vu all over again for Gabby today after he hits the winner at St Andrew’s in the last 5 minutes of the derby game. His header to beat Joe Hart might not have been as emphatic as his ’07 winner, but it means just as much.

It was probably a more even game than most Villa fans were comfortable with, but ultimately the class prevailed. Personally, I was fearful that MON’s surprising back four selection of Cuellar, Collins, Dunne & Warnock – a foursome who have never played together, three of them making debuts – were destined to create some sort of comedy mix-up to gift the home team a goal. Actually, they looked surprisingly organized and it’s clear that we have a gem in Dunne.

In reality, Villa were probably their own worst enemy for much of the match as every good passage of play seemed to end in a scuffed shot, a wayward pass or a dodgy touch to hand possession back to city. Milner in particular was as industrious as ever and carved himself the best openings only to waste the opportunities he worked so hard to create. Neither keeper had much to be concerned with during the first 45 minutes.

Birmingham were forced to bring on Carsley for the second half and he had a couple of shots on goal that represented his side’s best chances up to that point. Still Villa struggled to get any real purchase in the game, but started to show signs that their quality would eventually prevail with patience.

MON made a tactical change in the 71st minute bringing John Carew on for Reo-Coker. Nothing complicated, Carew joined Gabby up front ahead of a more traditional four man midfield. Villa were able to hold their own in the centre of the park and it seemed clear that the extra man up front would present City with more than they could handle.

And so it proved in the 85th minute when Ash’s free kick from the right was nodded back across goal to Gabby with enough space and time to pick his spot. He didn’t miss.

The home side finally pressed for a goal themselves in the closing minutes and the space that presented should have allowed Villa to score twice more. Despite the win, questions need to be asked about some of the wastefulness in front of goal. The final chance; Carew and Milner 2 on 1 with Joe Hart, required the simplest of passes from Carew to present Milner with an unmissable empty net and the big man put too much on it leaving Milner scrambling. In the end it didn’t matter. This time.

Villa fans won’t be concerned about that for rest of today. They certainly won’t be concerned about it at work tomorrow morning if they have the pleasure of working alongside a bluenose or two!! For now, it’s three points bagged and up to sixth in the table.

UTV!!