Aston Villa 0 Birmingham 2
Birmingham City beat Aston Villa 2-0 in a bad-tempered Birmingham derby which boiled over when Dion Dublin was sent off for head-butting Robbie Savage tonight.
Villa also had Icelandic international Joey Gudjonsson dismissed in an ugly match at Villa Park that will have done little for cross-city relations.
Australian international Stan Lazaridis scored Birmingham's first goal in the 74th minute and Geoff Horsfield poached the second three minutes later to lift City six points clear of the relegation zone and gave them their first home and away win double over their bitter rivals in 25 years.
Dublin, who had only just returned from suspension, was dismissed in the 51st minute for head-butting Savage, apparently after a comment the Welsh international aimed at him.
The pair had to be held apart by teammates and the beleaguered referee before the veteran Villa striker finally left the pitch.
Birmingham eventually made their numerical superiority count as Jeff Kenna's cross from the left wing flew past Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelmann, leaving Lazaridis only to head over the line from close range.
It was the Australian's first league goal for two years, but he was immediately substituted after scoring, seemingly after taking a knock.
Birmingham's second goal stemmed from Jlloyd Samuel's back pass which came up short. The pacy Horsfield nicked the ball almost out of Enckelmann's hands and ran it into an empty net.
The error was reminiscent of a terrible gaffe Enckelmann made in City's 3-0 victory at St Andrews' earlier this season.
One home fan tried to get on to the pitch to confront the keeper - who had been the victim of similar attention in the previous encounter for which the offender was imprisoned for four months - but was prevented from doing so.
As tempers frayed, the referee had no choice but to send the already booked Gudjonsson off after a sickening double-footed tackle on Matthew Upson and the match threatened to veer out of control both on and off the pitch.
One Villa supporter ran on to the playing surface to confront Savage, but the Welshman did not react and instead attempted to persuade the Birmingham fans to calm down.
In a measure clearly designed to defuse the explosive atmosphere, Birmingham coach Steve Bruce substituted Savage immediately afterwards.
Savage, a player who has often courted controversy, required an escort from the stewards when he eventually went down the players' tunnel.
The extraordinary second half ended with Birmingham keeper Nico Vaessen having to go off injured.
The best effort of a first half that did little to suggest the fireworks to come was Christophe Dugarry's dipping long-range effort that produced a fingertip save from Enckelman.
PA