Greatest Aston Villa vs Birmingham Matches : 10 Best Second City Derbies Ever
6. Aston Villa 2-2 Birmingham City [2004]
Birmingham produced a dramatic comeback to earn a point and deny local rivals Aston Villa a fifth successive victory. This provided a dent in Villa’s hunt for European football that season
Darius Vassell had sought to maintain their winning run with a goal midway through the first half and, despite other glaring misses, Thomas Hitzlsperger added a second shortly after the restart with a thumping effort.
Seeking a route back into the game, Morrison set up Mikael Forssell to reduce the arrears, but the drama was set to play on until the very final minute.
Deep into injury time, Stern John popped up to pounce in the box and fire high into the roof of the net to send the away supporters in madness. A comeback goal to level the scores on your rivals’ patch, in the 94th minute, in front of the away fans? Doesn’t get much better than that.
5. Aston Villa 7-3 Birmingham (Newton Heath) [1895]
Before they took on their current name of Birmingham City, the Blues went by the name of Small Heath (and Small Heath Alliance), but truth be told, in terms of their rivalry with Villa, it’s a name best forgotten.
They never got the better of their opponents during matches played under this name, with the most humbling of results coming way back in 1895. It was a League Division One fixture at the time, where a visit across the city saw Small Heath be on the wrong end of the highest-scoring fixture these two have ever taken part in.
Ten goals would be scored in a mad-cap game, but the result wasn’t too shocking. Villa would win the league that season meanwhile Small Heath would finish second bottom of the table, with the gulf in class between the pair painfully noticeable. Villa would also win the FA Cup that season.
4. Birmingham City 3-0 Aston Villa [2002]
The first meeting in Premier League history between the pair ended in a crushing victory for the hosts, and was shrouded in controversy. Villa simply did not turn up and were completely overawed by the intensity of the clash. This fixture will always be remembered for a horrendous goalkeeping mistake by Peter Enckelman, who allowed a throw-in from Olof Mellberg to roll under his foot.