BIRMINGHAM (England), March 4: Birmingham City took a huge step towards premier league survival when they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park in a game that saw their city rivals reduced to nine men.

The much-welcomed league double over their arch rivals left Birmingham in 16th place on 32 points but they are now six clear of the relegation zone.

After a relatively low key first half, the game boiled over five minutes into the second when Villa striker Dion Dublin was sent off for butting Birmingham midfielder Robbie Savage.

Stan Lazaridis headed Birmingham into the lead in the 74th minute and striker Geoff Horsfield made it 2-0 three minutes later when he beat goalkeeper Peter Enckelman to a back pass and scored into an empty net.

Villa’s misery was completed 10 minutes from time when Icelandic midfielder Joey Gudjohnsson was shown a second yellow card for a horrific two-footed lunge on Matthew Upson.—Reuters