Aston
Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman's awful error destroyed
his side's hopes as Birmingham beat their rivals 3-0
at St Andrews.
Steve
Bruce's Blues now sit just above his old club Manchester
United in the table after a stirring victory in the
first-ever second city derby in the Premiership.
But the match will largely be remembered for a bizarre
own goal from Enckelman, whose fatal mistake on 77
minutes ended Villa's fine attempts at a second-half
comeback.
Clinton Morrison opened the scoring soon after the
half-hour mark when Olof Mellberg's slow reactions
on the edge of his own box let in Robbie Savage. He
miscontrolled the ball into the path of Morrison,
who tucked it away with a tidy finish for his third
goal in two games.
The home side posed by far the greater goal threat
but were fortunate when Ulises De la Cruz's drive
was deflected off Martin Grainger and thwacked against
the crossbar on 39 minutes.
Villa subs Dion Dublin and Darius Vassell led the
charge after the break, with Gareth Barry also to
the fore, and they threatened Blues' goal regularly.
Vassell even had the ball in the back of the net but
it was quickly disallowed for offside.
Graham Taylor mounted a strong protest against that
decision but even he was lost for words when a calamitous
disaster struck at the other end for his side.
Olof Mellberg took a throw-in deep into Villa territory
and chucked it back to Enckelman's feet. But the Finn's
attempt to control the ball was woeful and as it collected
the faintest of touches off his boot, he could only
watch in despair as it rolled over the line.
Geoff Horsfield wrapped up the win on 83 minutes with
a well-struck shot inside the area as Alpay made a
poor error as well.
Birmingham travel to Middlesbrough on Saturday, while
Villa - still pointless and goalless on their travels
- slip to 13th and take on Everton at home on Sunday.
Despite Blues' joy at victory, they are likely to
receive a heavy fine from the Football Association
after a series of threatening pitch invasions from
their fans after each goal.
