Aston Villa 0-1 West Bromwich Albion

Saido Berahino's goal was his first of the season

Saido Berahino scored on his first start since threatening to go on strike as West Brom beat a lacklustre Aston Villa in a West Midlands derby.

The Baggies edged the first half and almost took the lead within 60 seconds when Salomon Rondon's header was palmed away by Brad Guzan.

Their breakthrough came soon before the break when Berahino stuck out a foot to steer James Morrison's shot home.

Villa improved slightly after the break but never looked like equalising.

• Read how the game unfolded here

• Latest reaction to all of Saturday's action here

Berahino is the hero

Despite being one of Albion's two strikers, the average position of Berahino (number 18) was almost on halfway

Berahino tweeted on transfer deadline day that he "will never play" after being refused a move to Tottenham, but he came on in their last game against Southampton and started at Villa Park.

The 22-year-old was paired up front with Salomon Rondon but played a fairly deep role as our graphic shows. His one touch in the Villa box was his goal, as he poked Morrison's effort home.

He was replaced by Craig Gardner after 67 minutes and all his problems appeared to be forgotten as he was central to Albion's post-match celebrations with manager Tony Pulis and team-mates.

West Brom legend Tony Brown, working for BBC WM said: "It's nice to see a beaming face from Saido Berahino - he's coming off and hugging his team-mates."

Baggies boss Pulis said: "This game was made for Saido. He's not played a lot of football and looked tired as the game went on, but he was desperate to play and he has the quality that we want and need.

"Everyone in this room has made mistakes - in a few years' time he will look back on the situation and think he should have done better. But it's over now, we move on, as a club we move on and he's a very good player."

Villa's struggles continue

After throwing away a two-goal lead last weekend to lose to Leicester, Villa boss Tim Sherwood said "I've never felt this bad. Ever". He will not have seen much to improve his mood in this West Midlands derby.

Villa's long-suffering home fans have now seen them pick up only 71 points from 73 home Premier League games since December 2011 - with little from this performance indicating things are about to change.

The hosts were outplayed in the first half and Sherwood's decision to replace pacy Scott Sinclair with targetman Rudy Gestede at half-time did little to turn things around.

Their three shots on target all came in the second half but they were all routine saves for Boaz Myhill.

'Desperate from Villa'

Martin Keown on BBC Radio 5 live: "It was desperate from Aston Villa today. Long balls are all they seem to have.

"We saw how disappointed Tim Sherwood was after last week's result but he needs to keep his head because he'll be hurting now after this defeat by Villa's local rivals.

"Essentially, West Brom were just too good."

Man of the match - Saido Berahino

In a match short of outstanding individual performances, Saido Berahino gets the nod for his decisive impact

Villa in 'transition period'

Villa boss Tim Sherwood: "I'm disappointed that we didn't perform. West Brom deserved the result and did a good job on us. We didn't express ourselves.

"Today wasn't our day and we have to give them credit for stifling us and getting their scruffy goal. We looked threatening as the game went on but it wasn't enough.

"I recognise the problems at the moment and need to look at it again to make sure I'm not being too emotional. But it's a transition period at this club. The performances haven't been as bad as the results, though today is an exception as I'm disappointed."

West Brom boss Tony Pulis: "I thought we played really well today and were the better team - Villa can't have any complaints. We deserved it, there's no doubt.

"We showed today that if you have a team playing as a team it's very hard to do anything against us. But during the game Villa didn't open us up once."

The stats you need to know

• Sixteen of Berahino's 20 Premier League goals so far have been scored in the West Midlands (14 at The Hawthorns, two at Villa Park).

• Aston Villa are winless in four Premier League games at Villa Park, losing three and drawing the other.

• The Baggies have lost just one of their last seven Premier League matches on the road (W4 D2 L1), keeping five clean sheets in that run.

• Tim Sherwood has lost six of his last eight Premier League matches (W1 D1).

What's next for both teams?

Villa move from their second biggest rivalry to their main one as they host Birmingham City on Tuesday in the League Cup second round.

Boss Sherwood said: "We know that Tuesday is an even bigger game than today. We know how disappointed the fans will be but I can assure them the players are equally as disappointed and desperate to put it right on Tuesday."

West Brom go to Norwich on Wednesday in their round-two clash.