Birmingham 0 Aston Villa 1:MAYBE THE Birmingham City supporters will think twice before taunting Gabriel Agbonlahor when Aston Villa next come to St Andrew's.
Once again the Villa striker was subjected to offensive chants about his mother from the Birmingham fans but, just like in November 2007, when he also scored the winning goal in the final five minutes, Agbonlahor delivered the perfect response as he headed home to secure Villa a fifth successive victory over their local rivals.
Rather than follow the lead of Emmanuel Adebayor and tear up the opposite end of the field at breakneck speed to confront his tormentors, Agbonlahor celebrated gleefully in front of the travelling supporters before later placing a finger over his lips. The 22-year-old claimed afterwards that the distasteful chants had inspired him. “Whenever the Villa fans sing my song, the Blues fans sing their own version and that makes me more determined to do well,” said the forward.
It was Agbonlahor’s second goal in as many games and, on an afternoon when Emile Heskey never got off the substitutes’ bench, provided a gentle reminder to Fabio Capello that there is another English forward at Aston Villa who has designs on playing at the World Cup. “If Gabby continues to play and perform right through the season, there is no reason for him to be disregarded,” said a “relieved” Martin O’Neill.
Birmingham had battled valiantly and managed to subdue Villa for long periods during a turgid affair, but the absence of a cutting edge rendered a late equaliser unlikely. Indeed, it was Villa who came closest to scoring again, with Agbonlahor squandering an excellent chance when he shot over after racing clear in the 89th minute.
No matter. This was Villa’s fourth successive win in all competitions and the chance for a further three points beckons with the bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth due at Villa Park on Saturday. “I’m delighted,” said O’Neill. “It looked as if it was heading for stalemate. There weren’t many chances at either end and I wanted us to force some pressure on Birmingham so we brought John on and he made a big contribution to the winning goal.”
It was a poor goal for Birmingham to concede. The free-kick Howard Webb awarded following Stuart Parnaby’s challenge on Ashley Young was dubious, and when the winger picked himself up he drilled a diagonal ball towards the penalty area that Birmingham failed to defend. Carew managed to lose the otherwise impressive Roger Johnson, before nodding across goal to the unmarked Agbonlahor, who steered a neat header beyond Joe Hart’s right hand.
“Two free headers at a set piece and we have been punished,” lamented Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager. “We designate players to pick up and often the second ball is the one that kills you. The free-kick was soft but we should still defend it. You have got to be really vigilant in those situations. But I thought the result was harsh. We played really well and got about Villa. I don’t think we allowed them to play.”
That much was true but Birmingham, despite their possession, rarely looked like troubling a Villa defence that could have been forgiven for looking a little uneasy. James Collins, Richard Dunne and Stephen Warnock, signed for a combined total of €19.4 million, had never played together before and only met for the first time on Friday. Yet there were few fraught moments for the three Villa debutants.
