Villa beat Birmingham for Second City bragging rights in Capital One Cup

Aston Villa eased their recent Midlands derby woes with a 1-0 win against bitter local rivals Birmingham City in the Capital One Cup third round, thanks to a Rudy Gestede goal and a pair of timely substitutions by Tim Sherwood.

What began as a rather exciting, open and end-to-end Second City scuffle soon turned into an example of poor execution, though the first half was no less enthralling for it.

The Championship Blues certainly had the most fizz and flair initially, though Villa endeavored to be first to every loose ball in midfield, refusing to allow their visitors to settle.

It was Sherwood’s summer striker signing Gestede who set the tone for what would ultimately be a fruitless opening 45 minutes in both final thirds, scuffing an early shot, with the former Blackburn Rovers frontman and Scott Sinclair later fluffing their attempts to connect well with a bobbling ball in the box.

For his part, Sinclair at least illustrated intent as he sped into City’s area, his delayed strike almost fooling keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

Also for the Villans, Leandro Bacuna’s low-cross was curled in just a smidge too far ahead of on-rushing Gabriel Agbonlahor, while the fullback was troubled by young-gun Demarai Gray at the opposite end.

Full of exuberance and abandon, Gray’s raw pace and guile was evident, yet the versatile attacker’s spark could not compensate for some poor decision-making, with a few poor passes scuppering chances, in particular when the fledgling forward failed to find well-positioned Clayton Donaldson.

Still, Birmingham showed range, with a dangerous target to aim long punts toward in Donaldson, and the ability for crisp passing on the decks.