Aston Villa won the bragging rights as they beat Birmingham City 1-0 in the Second City derby.
Gary Rowett has stated that he doesn’t agree with Dean Smith’s comments in regards to the fans that clapped off the supporter who attacked Jack Grealish during Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.
The 23-year-old was punched by a fan early in the first-half, with players stopping the individual before he was led away by the stewards in the hotly-contested Second City derby on Sunday afternoon.
After the match, Smith criticised the ‘15,000 Idiots’ for ‘clapping’ the individual [BT Sport] as he was being escorted off the field, comments which former Blues boss Rowett couldn’t agree with.
Speaking to Sky Sports Football (10/03/2019), Rowett responded to Smith’s comments and felt that one ‘idiotic’ fan shouldn’t ‘tarnish’ the rest of the supporters.
“I don’t know if I agree with 15,000 cheering him on,” Rowett told Sky Sports Football. “When you see it in that moment there is one or two, or certainly more than one or two that are applauding the person.
“I mean the guy then kind of puts his hand up like he is some sort of celebrity, which is sad. What I think is important is Birmingham fans are brilliant, brilliant fans. I don’t think it’s fair to tarnish a large proportion of them with one idiotic act.”
Despite the ugly scenes in the first half, Grealish let his football do the talking as he netted the winning goal midway through the second half to the delight of the away supporters.
Smith’s decision to introduce midfielder John McGinn and winger Andre Green changed the game as Villa pushed further up the field and punished their opponents.
McGinn picked up the ball in the final third before playing a ball out wide to left-back Neil Taylor, who played a simple pass to Grealish as he carried the ball into the area and guided his left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
As a result, Villa have now completed the league double over their bitter rivals after thumping them 4-2 during the reverse fixture in November.
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