Aston Villa 4 Birmingham City 2: Derby win sends Smith's side eighth

Aston Villa came from behind to secure a pulsating 4-2 win over neighbours Birmingham City on Sunday and move up to eighth in the Championship.

After a bright start, Birmingham took the lead in the 28th minute when Lukas Jutkiewicz stole in at the back post to steer home Connor Mahoney's deep corner.

Their joy was short-lived, however, as Villa stormed back with two goals in the space of as many minutes soon afterwards.

Jonathan Kodjia pulled them level with a scuffed finish from 10 yards in the 37th minute before Jack Grealish headed home Albert Adomah's cross at the back post.

Tammy Abraham put Villa 3-1 up with a superb penalty after he had been brought down by Michael Morrison six minutes into the second half, but Kristian Pedersen pulled one back for Garry Monk's side with a cool volley after 57 minutes.

Any hopes of a grandstand finish were extinguished in the 76th minute when Alan Hutton added a fourth, the former Tottenham defender producing a surging run and fine finish to seal all three points for Dean Smith's side.