Birmingham City defeated local rivals Aston Villa 2-0 in a tense Midlands derby marred by crowd trouble. Stan Lazaridis and Geoff Horsfield were both on target for the blue's while the home side had Dion Dublin sent off five minutes into the second half for head-butting Robbie Savage and then Joey Gudjonsson was given his marching orders after a two-footed lunge earned him a second booking.
Then tempers between the supporters frayed midway through the second half as Villa fans ripped up seats in the stadium and threw them in the direction of their Birmingham counterparts.
The game was delayed for a 5 min period before calm was restored and Villa could now face a hefty fine from the English FA.
Blues are now only three points behind Villa and it was the perfect way for Blues co-owner David Sullivan to celebrate his 10th anniversary of taking charge at St Andrews.
Filed by Johnny Proby
