Violence at Birmingham derby on eve of 2018 vote

Birmingham 2 Aston Villa 1. Birmingham recorded an historic League Cup quarter-final win over local rivals Aston Villa last night, but the game at St Andrews was marred by crowd trouble as 9,000 fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle, threw flares at each other and ripped up seats.

Skirmishes between fans continued outside the stadium and five people were arrested. Police said 14 people, including four police officers, were injured and two police dogs were hurt after being struck by missiles.

Steve Graham, the match-day commander, said: "This incident must have been very frightening for the vast majority of spectators".

It could not have come at a worse time for the England 2018 World Cup bid team as they await the outcome of the bidding process. The FA released a statement in which they strongly condemn the actions of those involved and promise an investigation.

 
The game itself was a tight affair. Sebastian Larsson put Birmingham in front with a 12th minute penalty but Gabriel Agbonlahor equalised after half an hour. The match remained dead-locked until the 84th minute when Nikola Zigic secured Birmingham's victory with a scrambled shot that deflected off Luke Young.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said the victory, the Blues' first over Villa since 2005, had been "soured" by the violence.

"That was horrible to see the punters running on the pitch – it's from the dark ages that," he said.

"I know we have not beaten Villa for a while, and the fans were treating it like a cup final. But when you see flares being thrown into the crowd it's not something you want to be associated with."

Birmingham will have more scores to settle in the next round as they come up against West Ham and their former owners David Gold and David Sullivan. ·