By Ryan Ghee
October 16 2005

Aston Villa returned back to winning ways today in the best possible manner as they defeated their bitter rivals 1-0 at St Andrew's. Kevin Phillips, returning to the starting eleven after almost a month on the sidelines, scored the only goal of the game as Villa overran their local rivals. The goal on 19 minutes sparked massive celebrations from the away fans who can now put three years of derby-day pain behind them.

As expected, the match started at a very high-tempo with both teams lookng for an early break-through and not allowing their opponents any time on the ball.

The first chance came after 10 minutes when Julian Gray arrived unmarked at the back-post only to fire his half-volley over the bar from only six yards out.

The chances were few and far between for the next period of the match up until the 19th minute when Kevin Phillips finished off a slick team move from the edge of the box. Erik Bakke linked up well with Milner and Barry on the right-hand side and when the ball fell to Phillips, he made no mistake with the finish as he drilled the ball past Maik Taylor.

With the Villa fans getting behind their team, O'Leary's troops then pushed on for a second as Ridgewell and Moore wasted good chances to extend the lead.

Birmingham's Walter Pandiani found himself through on goal soon after but the striker fired his shot straight at Sorensen who easily averted the danger.

With Birmingham on the ropes, Steve Bruce decided to make a half-time change which saw the under-performing Pandiani replaced by Forssell.

With a more attacking style of play in the second half, the home side started to pile on the pressure as Ridgewell bravely denied Jarosik and Sorensen was again called into action to push Upson's powerful header over the bar.

With an hour of the match gone, Villa found themselves penned into their own half and on 61 minutes, Wilfred Bouma made a vital intervention as Heskey charged towards the Villa goal.

David Dunn, returning for The Blues after a 10-month injury lay off, was introduced with 25 minutes of the match remaining and made an instant impact. The subsitute drilled a dangerous low shot towards Sorensen's goal but Aaron Hughes, also returning from injury, deflected the shot wide for a corner.

Going into the final 20 minutes, Juan Pablo Angel could have killed the game off as he collected Davis's through ball only to fire the shot high and wide of the target.

Aston Villa were put under severe pressure in the closing stages but showed great stength and refused to allow their opponents a clear sight of goal.

With 10 minutes remaining, David Dunn took a dive in the Villa box but the penalty appeals were waved away as Bouma cleared the danger.

With four minutes of stoppage-time signalled, Villa put everyone behind the ball and with Mellberg leading by example at the back, The Villans held on for their first win over their arch-rivals in seven attempts.