Steve Bruce’s return to St. Andrew’s on Sunday saw Villa walk away with their 9th draw of the season. This draw, whilst not being the result that Villa fans would have wanted, maintains Bruce’s unbeaten start as Villa manager; 2 wins and 2 draws.
If truth be told, the draw was probably a fair result. Birmingham did have nearly three times as many shots as Villa; however, Gollini was rarely called into action throughout the match. He was really only called upon twice; the first time he was needed was to smother the ball when Clayton Donaldson headed it onto the bar and down onto the line from 1 yard out (how Donaldson did not score, only he alone knows) and the second time was when he was required to make a brave save when Maghoma was sent through on goal.
Boyhood Villa fan Gary Gardener opened the scoring around 10 minutes later (29th minute) with a brilliant header from a pinpoint Ayew free-kick. This was Gardner’s first ever goal for Villa and you could see how much it meant to him as he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate with the 2000 Villa fans. If he had the option of choosing what game he would score his first goal for Villa in, this definitely would have been it.
Villa’s lead lasted until the 71st minute when David Davis drilled in a shot from around 20 yards. Jonathan Kodjia saw a late header drift just wide whilst Gabby Agbonlahor came on in the 81st minute for his first appearance since March.
Below are our Villa player ratings for the game:
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