Birmingham City 0-1 Aston Villa: Jack Grealish gives side win following attack by fan
- Published
Jack Grealish has scored in successive games since returning from injury
Jack Grealish's 67th-minute winner settled an ugly derby, but Aston Villa's second victory over Birmingham City this season will be remembered not for the goal but for an attack on the visiting skipper by a spectator from the home section.
City say they will ban for life the man,, external who was immediately apprehended following the 10th-minute incident in which he ran on to the pitch at the home Tilton End and punched Grealish from behind.
Although Grealish recovered to score Villa's winner, the rest of a heated contest was played out under a cloud.
Villa could have won by more if, shortly after their goal, Conor Hourihane had not hit the bar from Grealish's pass.
But Blues then wasted two glorious late chances when Villa old boy Craig Gardner, on as a substitute, blazed over the bar from close range before bulleting a header just past the post.
As it was, Villa climb above Blues to ninth in the Championship table, back within four points of the play-off places.
Grealish at centre of early action
The incident which sparked the ill feeling in the crowd prior to the attack on Grealish was home midfielder Maikel Kieftenbeld's late challenge on the Villa captain, in only the fourth minute.
He was booked, just as he had been for his earlier foul on Grealish in Blues' 4-2 defeat at Villa Park in November.
But it was clearly not received well by the Blues fans, who noisily suggested that Grealish had been over-theatrical in the way he fell to the ground.
And six minutes later, when Grealish was up in support of a Villa charge at the Tilton End, he was attacked from behind by a spectator, who had somehow evaded the line of orange and yellow-jacketed stewards to make his way on to the pitch.
Stewards quickly apprehended the man who came on to the pitch and attacked Jack Grealish
After Grealish had been picked up off the floor and given the go-ahead to continue, the game took a while to reignite.
But both sides had chances before the break.
Home keeper Lee Camp saved with his legs from Anwar El Ghazi before Villa top scorer Tammy Abraham ballooned an effort over at the near post, while claiming he had been hampered.
At the other end, Blues' top scorer Che Adams saw a shot from 25-yards fly just wide.
Substitutions prove key for Villa
The second half proved just as competitive and as unlikely to yield a winner, until Villa's double substitution when they introduced Andre Green and John McGinn.
First Green was denied a goal from his initial touch when he got his head to Grealish's cutback from the byeline, only to be blocked by Wes Harding.
Then Grealish himself took centre stage, latching onto McGinn's crossfield ball before weaving his way into the box to thread his low shot inside Camp's left upright.
Grealish was booked for jumping over the barrier into the crowd to celebrate, receiving one of the game's six cautions from referee Tim Robinson.
Shouts for a penalty were waved away by the referee at the home end when Adams went down, and Gardner should have done better with both his chances.
But Villa had the cutting edge when it mattered most.
Grealish provided 'only answer' - post-match reaction
Aston Villa head coach Dean Smith told BBC Sport:
"Jack Grealish is a mature lad, and he responded well. There was only one way to answer that and that was to pop up with a winner like he did.
"I'm really proud of the way he handled it. He only came off as he was knackered, cramping up.
"It was a scrappy derby in difficult conditions but we were the better team in the second half and deserved to win.
"A lot has been made of the Birmingham City team spirit, but we showed a lot of spirit ourselves. Conditions were tough but we put in a gritty performance."
Birmingham City manager Garry Monk told BBC Sport:
"We feel gutted. It's a painful one for us. We now have to pick ourselves up for the game here on Wednesday (at home to Millwall).
"It was played in difficult conditions, but we did enough to warrant at least a point. We just gave them too much space for their goal.
"We had our chances but the ball just didn't want to go in.
"And, as for the challenge on Che Adams in the box, if that had happened anywhere else on the pitch, it would have been a foul."