*Blues win fierce derby*

For the second time this season the Midlands derby ended disastrously for Aston Villa, who finished the game with nine men as they went down to their local rivals.

Dion Dublin and Joey Gudjonsson were sent off for the home side as Birmingham scored twice in the last 16 minutes.

Goals from Stan Lazaridis and Geoff Horsfield helped the visitors move six points clear of the relegation zone.

Horsfield profited from another piece of lame goalkeeping from Peter Enckelman, who had given away a bizarre own goal in the first meeting at St Andrews.

As with that first meeting, this game also saw fans running on to the pitch in the closing stages as the match degenerated into farce.

Dublin was dismissed five minutes into the second half.

As referee Mark Halsey mulled over whether to book the Villa striker for a late tackle on Savage, Dublin then headbutted the Birmingham midfielder.

Gudjonsson was red-carded for a two-footed tackle on Matthew Upson nine minutes from time.

A couple of Savage’s challenges, particularly one on Gudjonsson, had set the tone for this bruising encounter.

Gudjonsson and Christophe Dugarry had also clashed intermittently throughout the match and their running feud saw the Frenchman appear to spit at the Icelandic player.

Despite the feisty tackling it took 35 minutes before Halsey booked a player - showing a yellow card to Kenny Cunningham for his high tackle on Gareth Barry.

At least when the ball did intermittently reach either penalty area the tackling was more judicious.

Notably when Jeff Kenna denied Barry with a last-ditch tackle, while Dublin was similarly thwarted by Jamie Clapham.

Two spectacular long-range volleys also stood out in a frenetic first half.

Lee Hendrie drove just wide of the Birmingham post, while at the other end of the pitch Peter Enckelman reacted quickly to tip a dipping effort from Dugarry over the bar.

Clinton Morrison should have also done better with a header from a Damien Johnson cross.

On 74 minutes Lazaridis got on to the end of a Kenna cross to give Birmingham the lead.

Soon after, Horsfield doubled Birmingham’s advantage after he capitalised on Enckelman’s indecision, and Gudjonsson was dismissed four minutes later.

Horsfield ended the game in goal for Birmingham after Nico Vaesen was injured clearing the ball.

The win leaves Birmingham six points ahead of third-from-bottom West Ham.