Aston Villa talent Jack Grealish starred against Birmingham City.
Aston Villa playmaker Jack Grealish has told the Birmingham Mail that he loved following in the footsteps of Gabriel Agbonlahor by scoring against Birmingham City.
Villa took on bitter city rivals Birmingham on Sunday afternoon, and were looking for a third straight win under new boss Dean Smith.
Lukas Jutkiewicz put Birmingham in front before Jonathan Kodjia drew Villa level, and playmaker Grealish then swooped in to head Villa into the lead before the break.
Tammy Abraham scored from the spot to make it 3-1, and whilst Kristian Pedersen pulled one back for the Blues, a solo goal from Alan Hutton sealed all three points for Villa.
Grealish was clearly emotional at his goal and winning the game, having grown up supporting Villa and now played his part in claiming a win over their bitter enemies.
After the game, Grealish spoke of his joy at scoring against Birmingham, and admitted that he loved being able to follow in the footsteps of striker Agbonlahor.
The forward, who was released by Steve Bruce at the end of last season, regularly scored against Birmingham to become a Villa hero, and Grealish revealed that Agbonlahor is his all-time favourite Villa player simply because he scored against the Blues – and doing the same thing was ‘unbelievable’ for the midfielder.
“That’s why he is my all-time hero,” said Grealish. “He scored in so many derbies, didn’t he? Often late on. I would love to do what he has done. To contribute with a goal today was unbelievable for me,” he added.
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