Welcome back to the big build up week! In the latest article, I will be discussing the last three meetings between Birmingham City and Aston Villa.
For me to do this, we will have to go back four years! Yes it really has been that long since the sides last locked horns!
The most recent of the last clash was back in January 2011 at St.Andrews. On Sunday the 16th of January, Villa travelled to Blues in search of their seventh win against the Blues in previous nine meetings.
However, on the day, both sides walked away with a point when the game finished 1-1. Blues took a deserved lead early in the second half on the day when Roger Johnson smashed home a close range volley.
Blues were unable to hang on though. As the final 15 minutes of the game approached, Villa got a corner. The resulting kick ended up with Gabby Agbonlahor flicking on at the near post for James Collins to power home.
The game before that was the famous Carling Cup win on the 1st of December. The game was somewhat over shadowed by the behaviour of the fans after the game, which the country then blamed for the failure to clinch the World Cup bid.
In that game, Richard Dunne bundled Lee Bowyer over inside the box in the opening 15 minutes of the game. Seb Larsson stepped up to slot home his first goal at St.Andrews in over two years.
However, Blues were once again pegged back by you guessed it, Agbonlahor! He always scores against the Blues!!
After a controversial moment in a goal mouth scramble in the Villa goal where Blues thought they had scored, the Claret side of the city raced up the other end and equalised with a composed finish.
Despite the equaliser, Blues would have the last laugh. As the game approached the last five minutes, £6 million striker Nikola Zigic popped up with one of his most important goals.
As he slipped when he took the shot, the ball hit a Villa defender at looped over the helpless Brad Friedel to send the Blues through to the semi-final of the cup, which we would later go on to win.
Finally, the last of the three meetings was probably one of the most forgettable.
Back in October 2010, Blues travelled to Villa Park in search of their first win against their Midlands rivals in five years.
On the day however they were disappointed. Both sides played out arguably one of the poorest derbies on record. The most notable thing in this game was the fact that there were five bookings. Three for Blues (Zigic, Dann and Gardner) and two for Villa (Warnock and Reo-Coker).
Make sure you come back tomorrow when we will have another instalment in the big build up week!
Blues fans, what has been your favourite game against Aston Villa? Let us know in the comment section down below!
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