Aston Villa 2 Birmingham 0: Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane heroes in Second City derby to fire Steve Bruce’s side up to second in Championship
Villa with seventh straight league win against bitter Brummie rivals to go above Derby into second automatic promotion place
ALBERT ADOMAH and Conor Hourihane earned Villa the Second City bragging rights - and an emotional seventh win in on the spin for Steve Bruce.
Winger Adomah struck his 14th goal of the season on the hour before Hourihane’s brilliant volley ensured Villa moved up to second place in the Championship.
To rub salt into the Blues wound Cheikh N'Doye was sent off in injury time after a scuffle with Villa skipper John Terry.
Bruce’s father Joe passed away in the week and the Villa chief had been on compassionate leave to be with his ill mother.
There were doubts whether the 57-year-old, who won two promotions to the Premier League with Birmingham in 2002 and 2007, would even attend this game as a result.
But he emerged to take his place in the dugout, with opposite number Steve Cotterill offering him a warm handshake before kick-off.
Villa dominated the first half with Jack Grealish particularly impressing and Scott Hogan crashing the bar from distance.
Yet oddly it was the visitors who had the best chance before the break when John Terry’s slip allowed in Sam Gallagher.
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The on-loan forward cracked a shot across goal which bounced off the inside of the post and back to the striker, but he steered the rebound high into the stands.
There was still time ahead of the interval for Maikel Kieftenbeld to head off the line as Villa continued to press.
Seconds into the restart Harlee Dean hit his own woodwork with a clearance as the hosts cranked up the heat.
The pressure told on the hour as Adomah cut inside the box and drilled a shot in off the inside of the post to maintain his stunning individual campaign.
Bruce handed a debut for the final 12 minutes to January loan capture Lewis Grabban, who was making his first appearance since playing for Sunderland before Christmas.
The three points were confirmed when Hourihane picked the ball out of the air and smashed it over the helpless David Stockdale with nine minutes to go.