Villa edge Midlands derby

Aston Villa survived a spirited fightback from West Brom to beat their Midlands rivals 2-1.

Carson gaffe helps Villa to 2-1 victory

Aston Villa survived a spirited fightback from West Brom to beat their Midlands rivals 2-1 and rise back to third in the Premier League table. Martin O'Neill's men took the lead in the 19th minute thanks to a Curtis Davies header and looked on course for a comfortable victory when they were gifted a second just before half-time. Scott Carson was at fault as he attempted to block Gabriel Agbonlahor's low strike across goal but instead allowed the ball to squirm under his body and over the line. The Baggies responded brightly after the break and reduced their arrears when James Morrison fired a shot past Brad Friedel with the aid of a deflection. West Brom continued to battle but rarely threatened an equaliser and Villa held on to close to within one point of second-placed Chelsea.

Sharper

Albion were the sharper side in the opening exchanges and Brad Friedel was called into action to deal with a left-footed drive from midfielder Robert Koren. It was against the run of play when Villa went ahead after 18 minutes through Davies. Steve Sidwell had two headers cleared off the line following a corner from Gareth Barry, with Morrison and Jonathan Greening saving Albion. But, when Barry delivered the ball into the danger area for the third time, no-one picked up Davies who headed past Carson - a Villa team-mate of his last season. Davies trotted back to the halfway line after showing only the slightest of celebrations at breaking the deadlock against his former club. The home side were now in the ascendancy and Ashley Young's curling shot from the edge of the Villa box was only just off target with Carson at full stretch. James Milner was becoming an increasing influence and one low cross from the club's record signing picked out Sidwell who would have been disappointed to sidefoot his shot just wide.

Dreadful

And after 41 minutes some dreadful defensive play by the visitors led to Villa doubling their lead. Barry slipped the ball into the path of England striker Agbonlahor on the left flank and he must have been surprised at the lack of a challenge as he cut into the box. But then Carson allowed Agbonlahor's shot from a narrow angle to deflect off him, squirm under his body and roll over the line. The shot had been going wide, across the face of goal. Mowbray made a half-time substitution, replacing Luke Moore with six-goal leading scorer Roman Bednar. Within four minutes Bednar had made a telling impact in setting up a goal for Morrison. Greening curled the ball into the box and Bednar headed back to Morrison who had time to steady himself before drilling a fierce shot, which took a slight deflection, past Friedel. Villa retaliated and Carson partially atoned for his error by making a superb reflex save to turn aside a volley from Sidwell after being teed up by Ashley Young. The goalkeeper also clung to a drive from Ashley Young after the Villa danger man had cut into the box. Bednar's presence certainly had livened up the visitors and Friedel held a powerful attempt from the former Hearts player. Morrison needed treatment to his leg after being accidentally injured in a challenge by Ashley Young but was unable to continue and replaced by Chris Brunt. Martin Laursen became the first player to be booked after 74 minutes for a foul on Jay Simpson after he had turned sharply. Agbonlahor could have sealed the game in the closing seconds but drilled his shot across the face of goal.

Aston Villa	Team Statistics	West Bromwich Albion
2	Goals	1
2	1st Half Goals	0
9	Shots on Target	3
9	Shots off Target	8
4	Blocked Shots	3
10	Corners	7
11	Fouls	18
1	Offsides	1
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
70.4	Passing Success	72.5
42	Tackles	26
73.8	Tackles Success	76.9
46.2	Possession	53.8
50.7	Territorial Advantage	49.3