Monday analysis: Rarely has derby victory been so sweet or significant for Aston Villa

Rarely in recent times, however, can a Second City derby win have felt quite so satisfying, or potentially as significant.

There is a chance that, three months from now, yesterday will be looked back on as the day Villa finally put the pain of a torrid few years behind them before kicking on to a brighter future.

There remains plenty of hard work to be done between now and May if the dream of a return to the Premier League is to be realised.

But, boy, Steve Bruce’s team have given themselves a superb chance, thanks to a remarkable winning run which now stands at seven matches and has, over the course of a few weeks, seen them turn a 10-point deficit on second place into a one-point advantage.

Blues arrived at Villa Park in their best form of the season but never truly looked like knocking the hosts off their stride, in one of the more one-sided encounters between the two rivals of recent times.

Second-half goals from Albert Adomah and Conor Hourihane earned Villa the win after the visitors had held out for the first hour.

It was the first time Villa had scored twice in a Second City derby since they famously hammered Blues 5-1 back in April 2009. This was also, most observers must surely agree, their finest performance in a derby since then.

On the front foot from the first whistle, Villa hit the bar through Scott Hogan inside the opening 20 minutes and Blues at times found it nigh on impossible to relieve the relentless pressure. In many respects, Steve Cotterill’s men deserve credit for holding out for as long as they did.

Such games can always come down to fine margins. Had Sam Gallagher found the net with Blues’ one big chance, instead of hitting the post and then blazing over three minutes before the break, things would have perhaps turned out differently.

There is a certain aura around Villa at the moment though, which suggests winning is inevitable whatever obstacles might fall in their way.

Victory also provided a bright ending to an otherwise horrid week for Bruce and his family.

The Villa manager had been absent from the club during the build-up to the game following the death of his father Joe last week. He returned to the club on Saturday to take training before selecting the team, opting to drop the in-form Birkir Bjarnason for Mile Jedinak in midfield.

It was a brave call which ended up being thoroughly vindicated, as the big Australian delivered a powerhouse performance in front of Villa’s back four, winning at least three headers in the first 10 minutes alone.

Only the excellence of Jack Grealish prevented Jedinak from claiming the man-of-the-match honours.

Grealish might not have grabbed the winner of which he dreamed, but he still provided Villa with a constant driving force in attack and set up Adomah for the opener.

From that moment there was only going to be one winner though, Hourihane’s eighth of the season, a spectacular long-range half-volley, meant the home supporters could enjoy the closing stages in comfort, Cheikh Ndoye’s late sending-off after scuffling with John Terry giving them further cause to crow over their neighbours.

Next up for Villa is a trip to promotion rivals Fulham, where they will have the chance to match the club’s best-ever post-war league winning streak.

At the moment, there cannot be many who would bet against them.