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Aston Villa 1-0 Birmingham City: Five talking points from the Second City derby

Rudy Gestede celebrates his goal with Jack Grealish and Jordan Amavi

Rudy Gestede's second-half header put Aston Villa into the Capital One Cup fourth round at the expense of arch-rivals Birmingham City.

The victory provides some welcome cheer for Tim Sherwood's side, who are hovering just above the Premier League relegation zone after a poor start to the campaign.

Here, we round up the top talking points from their 1-0 win at Villa Park...

Sherwood eases the pressure

"For Villa to lose this game is unthinkable." Those were the words of Dwight Yorke in the build-up to kick-off in the Sky Sports studio. Back-to-back defeats to Midlands rivals Leicester and West Brom had cranked up the pressure on Sherwood, but victory in the Second City derby gives them a much-needed lift.

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Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood claims he 'mixed it up' to get a result against City rivals Birmingham in the Capital One Cup.

That outcome looked far from certain after a poor first half performance was greeted with boos around Villa Park. The home side were disjointed and second-best for the first 45 minutes, but Gestede's 62nd-minute header eventually settled the tie. Sherwood hopes the victory can provide a platform to build on in the Premier League.

"It's a huge boost," he told Sky Sports. "The points tally hasn't married up to some of the performances. But that's part and parcel of the game. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve, but tonight we got everything we deserved and we could have won a lot more comfortably. I give the boys a lot of credit and I'm really pleased we can send out fans home happy."

Grealish lifts Villa

Villa's first half struggles spurred Sherwood into action at the break, with Jack Grealish and Jordan Ayew thrown on for Joleon Lescott and Gabriel Agbonlahor. The changes sparked the home side to life - and Grealish was at the heart of the transformation.

Jack Grealish celebrates after helping Aston Villa to victory
Image: Jack Grealish celebrates after helping Aston Villa to victory

The talented 20-year-old took the game by the scruff of the neck, demanding the ball to his feet and tormenting Birmingham's defence with his smart movement and determined dribbling. Grealish played with style and swagger and was heavily involved in Villa's goal as he found a pocket of space in front of the back four. The Sky Sports punditry team were left purring over his performance.

"Every time I've seen this kid he has impressed me," said Yorke. "We talked about the lack of quality Villa possessed in the first half, but this kid has it in abundance. He uses the ball well, he shields it well, he picks the right pass… He's just a very clever footballer. This guy is a touch of class. He can be the real deal."

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Highlights of the Capital One Cup third round match between Aston Villa and Birmingham

Grealish showed passion as well as quality. The local lad has been on the books at Villa since the age of six, and he demonstrated exactly what the result meant to him with a wild celebration at the final whistle. The departures of Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke have left Villa in need of a new talisman. Grealish looks like the man for the job.

Gestede's golden head

Birmingham must be sick of the sight of Gestede. The hulking striker scored a hat-trick of headers for Blackburn against the Blues in April last year, and his aerial prowess was decisive once again at Villa Park.

The Benin international struggled to impose himself in the first 45 minutes, but Birmingham couldn't cope with him after the break. His touch was erratic at times and his pass completion rate was down at 68.8 per cent, but he was there when Villa needed him with a thunderous header from Jordan Amavi's cross and he won over 70 per cent of his aerial duels in total.

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Aston Villa goalscorer Rudy Gestede said the win over rivals Birmingham will give his side a much needed confidence boost.

Having got off the mark with his head on the opening day of the Premier League season against Bournemouth, his aerial ability is already proving a dangerous weapon for Sherwood's side.

"It was a tough game against them," he told Sky Sports after the game. "We didn't start the season very well in the league so it's good for our confidence to win. That will get better now. It's good for the fans and the atmosphere was very nice tonight. We need to carry on and keep this form for the next game."

Lift-off for Ayew?

While Grealish deservedly took most of the plaudits, Ayew's performance was another positive for Villa. The 24-year-old has made a muted start at the club following his £10m move from Lorient in the summer, but he was full of pace and purpose after his introduction against the Blues.

Villa 1-0 Birmingham
Villa 1-0 Birmingham

Gestede's header sealed the win to put Villa into the Capital One Cup fourth round.

Ayew produced two key passes and completed three dribbles in his 45 minutes on the pitch, and he came close to adding a second for Villa in the 87th minute after playing a one-two with Grealish before seeing his goal-bound shot saved by Tomasz Kuszczak.

In the Sky Sports studio Yorke and Alex McLeish described his performance as "fantastic", and Villa will be hoping he produces more of the same as they look to kick-start their Premier League campaign.

Positives for Birmingham

A derby defeat always leaves a bitter taste, but there were plenty of positives for Birmingham. Gary Rowett's side had only lost one of their opening nine games of the season, and they might have taken the game to extra-time had Jacques Maghoma not spurned a glorious chance to equalise in the second half.

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Birmingham boss Gary Rowett said he was proud of his players after their defeat to Aston Villa

"There are huge positives," Rowett told Sky Sports after the game. "We knew it would be a very difficult game to play in, but I thought in the first half we were the better side. We moved the ball around very, very well, limited them to very few chances, but a moment of quality undoes us.

"For vast parts of the game I thought we were excellent," he added. "I thought we more than matched a very good Villa side. I think we can count ourselves very unfortunate to have lost the game."

Former Blues manager McLeish was also impressed. "The composure was really good, coming to a cauldron like Villa Park," he said. "Even in the second half they came back into it, and then they had that guilt-edged chance."

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