Jack Grealish dramatically gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win at Birmingham City after being attacked by a pitch invader in the early stages of Sunday's derby.

Villa captain Grealish was felled by a punch when a man ran onto the pitch in the opening 10 minutes of the Championship clash at St Andrew's.

The man ran onto the field and aimed a blow at the attacking midfielder, who was jogging in the opposite direction, and seemingly caught him on the neck and jaw.

Play was halted as stewards raced on to restrain the man before they led him to a nearby police officer, while players from both teams offered embraces to the 23-year-old.

West Midlands Police later confirmed a man had been arrested "following the incident on the pitch involving an attack on an Aston Villa player".

The 23-year-old Grealish proved the match-winner in the 67th minute, beating Lee Camp with a left-footed effort from just inside the box and running to celebrate with the away fans behind the goal.

Anwar El Ghazi, Tammy Abraham and Andre Green had earlier squandered chances to break the deadlock, while Conor Hourihane rattled the crossbar with a thumping strike 15 minutes from full-time.

Craig Gardner wasted two late opportunities to equalise for the hosts as Dean Smith's men held on for a second straight victory, lifting them into ninth and back to within four points of the play-off places.

Birmingham, who have now lost two on the trot, slid back to 11th, one point behind their rivals.