Aston Villa edged Midlands rivals Birmingham City 1-0 in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.
It was a first half of very few chances with Jacques Maghoma going closest for the Blues in the opening 45 minutes but Rudy Gestede soon changed the course of the match after the break.
The former Blackburn Rovers striker combined with fellow summer signing Jordan Amavi to powerfully head Villa into the lead in the 62nd minute much to the joy of the expectant home fans.
Brad Guzan made a vital save to deny Maghoma after Gestede's goal before Villa enjoyed a much-improved section of the contest but were unable to again breach Tomasz Kuszczak's goals.
In the end, however, the fine header from Gestede allowed Tim Sherwood's Villa to gain bragging rights over their Second City rivals and move through to the fourth round of the league cup.
2015/16 CAPITAL ONE CUP - THIRD ROUND
Aston Villa: 1 (Rudy Gestede 62')
Birmingham City: 0
Villa Park, Birmingham - 34,442