Benitez scored when beat Burnley 2-1

BIRMINGHAM CITY 2
- Jensen (og) 29,
- Benitez 41

BURNLEY 1
- Thompson 87

**Birmingham profited from shambolic Burnley defending as they cruised to a comfortable 2-1 win in their final home game of the season.
There was an end of season feeling about the game from the very first whistle, but the Birmingham players almost provided the perfect start as Lee Bowyer missed a glorious chance inside the opening minute.

It took almost half an hour for the deadlock to be broken, as Sebastian Larsson cut the ball back from the byline but as Christian Benitez missed the ball at the near post it hit Tyrone Mears before bobbling into the back of the net off Brian Jensen.

If the scruffy nature of the opening goal did not sum up Burnley's season then the second, just before the break, most definitely did as Roger Johnson jogged to the far post unattended to head the ball across goal, where Benitez pounced unmarked to chest into the back of the net.

Brian Laws must have had something to say to his players at the break because Burnley emerged with renewed vigour and Steven Fletcher looked like a man on a mission as he sought to get his side back in the game.

In the end though it was his replacement Steven Thompson who grabbed an 87th minute consolation for the Clarets, but Birmingham should have been well clear by that point and the victory never looked in doubt.

A fine end to the campaign at home for Alex McLeish's side, who have cemented ninth place in the Premier League, but for Burnley it's a 17th away defeat of the season - a new Premier League record.

Squads:

Burnley: Jensen, Mears, Cort, Caldwell, Fox, Cork, Alexander, Nugent, Steven Fletcher, Paterson, Elliott. Subs: Weaver, Duff, MacDonald, Rodriguez, Blake, Bikey, Thompson

Birmingham: Hart, Parnaby, Johnson, Ridgewell, Vignal, Larsson, Bowyer, Ferguson, McFadden, Jerome, Benitez. Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Michel, Fahey, Carsley, Tainio, Redmond

Gerrard goal still evoke Liverpool's hopes of securing a Champions League spot

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1
- Ridgewell 56

LIVERPOOL 1
- Gerrard 47

**Liverpool's hopes of securing a Champions League spot are hanging by a slender thread after Birmingham City defender Liam Ridgewell earned his side a share of the spoils at St. Andrew's.

Reds skipper Steven Gerrard put his side ahead a minute into the second half but Ridgewell levelled matters nine minutes later.

It means Rafael Benitez's side are four points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City and have played a match more.

And the Spaniard is still searching for a first Barclays Premier League victory over Blues in eight attempts spanning his six seasons at Anfield.

Birmingham again showed the resilience which has been their trademark in preserving a seven-month unbeaten home record.

And the share of the spoils with Liverpool means they have drawn at St. Andrew's with every one of the current top six this season.

The first half-chance fell to the in-form Fernando Torres after he was picked out by a pass from Maxi Rodriguez but his first touch was surprisingly poor and took him away from goal.

Gerrard was operating mainly in a deeper role but he ventured forward to find the overlapping Rodriguez in space only for his shot to be blocked by Roger Johnson.

Teams :

Birmingham City: Joe Hart, Scott Dann, Roger Johnson, Liam Ridgewell, Stephen Carr, Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson, Cameron Jerome, James McFadden (Kevin Phillips 78), Keith Fahey, Craig Gardner.

Liverpool: Jose Reina, Jamie Carragher, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Emiliano Insua, Glen Johnson, Lucas, Steven Gerrard, Yossi Benayoun (Ryan Babel 71), Maxi Rodriguez, Fernando Torres (David Ngog 65), Dirk Kuyt (Alberto Aquilani 81).

Arsenal loss of an important moment to compete to the top of the Premier League: Birmingham 1-1 Arsenal

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1
* Phillips 90

ARSENAL 1
* Nasri 81

**Arsenal’s title challenge was once again derailed at St Andrews after Kevin Philipps grabbed a last gasp equaliser for the hosts.

The home side had a few good chances and ‘keeper Manuel Almunia appeared to be having one of his better games only to make yet another blunder late on.

Sol Campbell went close in the first half also but the north London side took a long time to break down Alex McLeish’s side who continue to impress this term.

Frenchman Samir Nasri then struck with ten minutes to go when he spun expertly in the box before beating Joe Hart to secure a crucial win in the title chase. However, Birmingham City’s veteran striker Kevin Phillips then leveled in the dying minutes when his effort somehow made its way past the hapless Almunia.

Source : http://goonertalk.com

Team Line-ups:

Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Gardner, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey (Phillips '84), Jerome, McFadden (Benitez '76).

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Campbell, Diaby, Clichy, Denilson, Song, Walcott (Arshavin '69), Fabregas, Rosicky (Nasri '69), Bendtner.

Two goals in the space of three minutes from Anichebe and Yakubu

BIRMINGHAM CITY 2
- Jerome 26,
- Gardner 51


EVERTON 2
- Anichebe 19,
- Yakubu 22

**Birmingham fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 Premier League draw with Everton at St. Andrew's on Saturday 12/03/2010.

Two goals in the space of three minutes from Victor Anichebe and Yakubu Ayegbeni looked to have set the Toffees on their way to three points, though a quick reply from Cameron Jerome followed by a fine volley from Craig Gardner at the start of the second half gave Birmingham a share of the points and ensured they stay eighth in the table, two points ahead of their opponents in ninth.

Everton's afternoon was darkened further by injuries to Tim Cahill and Anichebe, both of whom were forced off in a frantic second half.

After a pedestrian start to the match, Everton began to find gaps in the Birmingham defence, and it required a world class save from Joe Hart to deny a curling Steven Pienaar effort from just outside the area. The England man flung himself across his goal to push Pienaar's shot around the post with the tips of his fingers when the ball looked set to nestle in the back of the net.

Moments later Hart was called upon again, this time to make a smart stop from Cahill, who glanced Mikel Arteta's inswinging cross goalwards.

There was nothing the overworked keeper could do on midway through the half, however, when Anichebe fired Everton into the lead. The Nigerian spun athletically past Liam Ridgewell, before firing a rising left-foot shot into the far corner.

Three minutes later Everton were two up, after Yakubu rose highest at the far post to head home Pienaar's high ball.

With Birmingham wasteful in possession, Everton appeared in total control proceedings. Or at least they did until Birmingham pulled a goal back from out of the blue with their first real moment of danger on 27 minutes.

Keith Fahey swung an innocuous-looking ball into the area from the left, and Jerome got just enough of a touch onto the ball to help it in at the far post beyond Tim Howard.

Everton did threaten once again toward the end of the half through a well-struck free-kick from Leighton Baines, but once again Hart was at his athletic best to fly across his line and tip the ball away.

Everton had a big appeal for a penalty turned down after Pienaar's shot struck Roger Johnson's hand in the Everton area, and their frustration only deepened two minutes later when Birmingham pulled level.

Jerome asserted himself well in the air to nod down a long ball from Hart, and Gardner reacted quickest to the second ball before firing a crisp first-time volley into the bottom corner.

The turnaround worked wonders for Birmingham's confidence, and where their midfield was previously being outfought and outplayed by the visitors, they suddenly started playing with the assurance that has taken them to seventh spot in the table.

Meanwhile, Everton's normally dangerous deliveries from set-pieces began to fall apart as Baines and Arteta fail to feed their strikers from numerous promising positions.

When Cahill finally did break through from open play, he fired a tame low shot straight at Hart.

Johnny Heitinga had chance to make himself a hero as Arteta's corner fell for him in the final minute of injury-time, but he could only glance the ball over the bar.
Michael FitzGerald / Eurosport

Line-up:

Birmingham: Hart, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Gardner, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, Jerome, Benitez.


Everton: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Anichebe, Heitinga, Arteta, Pienaar, Cahill, Yakubu.


Source: uk.eurosport.com

Manchester United missed out on the opportunity to overtake Chelsea

Birmingham City 1
-Jerome 39

Manchester United 1
-Dann (og) 63

Manchester United missed out on the opportunity to overtake Chelsea at the top of the Premier League tonight when they became the latest victims of Birmingham's remarkable progress, which has Alex McLeish's side unbeaten in their past 13 games – 12 of them in the league, a club record.

This match had considerable significance for both teams. Birmingham were keen to maintain their extraordinary bid for a place in Europe, while United needed to buttress form that had been damaged by successive defeats at the fortress they call Old Trafford. Both managers made their priorities clear last weekend, when they rested key players in the FA Cup. There was no question of that here, and their respective line-ups were at full strength.

Some called this the acid test for Birmingham's potential, but they have undergone more of those than litmus recently. Their spiky defence held Chelsea goalless on Boxing Day, did the same against Manchester City and have conceded just five goals in the past 10 games. If injuries continue to deprive England of centre-halves, Fabio Capello could do worse than take a look at Roger Johnson, the Blues' only ever-present this season. A body-on-the-line defender in the John Terry mould, Johnson has been consistently outstanding since his cheap-as-chips transfer from Cardiff, where he was a key figure in their run to the FA Cup final in 2008. Kevin Keegan, who knows what it takes to play international football, described his performance to ESPN viewers last night as "sensational".

As might have been expected, United made all the running in the first half, but Birmingham were resolution personified and the first attack of consequence was delayed until the 24th minute, when Liam Ridgewell carelessly conceded possession and Antonio Valencia's through pass left Wayne Rooney one-on-one with Joe Hart on the edge of the six-yard box. The England striker would normally be the odds-on favourite in such situations, but Hart is playing as well as any goalkeeper in the league these days and improvised an important save with his feet.

Birmingham were backs to the wall, tackling and blocking as if their lives depended on it, but their indefatigable spirit had its reward in the 39th minute, when James McFadden's corner from the right brought a poor attempt at a headed clearance from Jonny Evans, enabling Lee Bowyer to supply Jerome, who thumped it home at whites-of-the-eyes range. The goal was yet another reminder that Evans and Wes Brown are not centre-halves of title-winning calibre, and that not until Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are back, and at their best, are United likely to keep clean sheets with regularity.

Confidence coursing, Birmingham contributed more as an attacking force after the interval, but Jerome wasted a promising opening with a poor final ball and United drew level in the same minute – the 63rd – in circumstances that sparked pandemonium. Patrice Evra's shot from left to right was diverted in by Dann, who thought Rooney was closer behind him than was the case. Birmingham appealed for offside and the referee's assistant flagged in agreement, only to be overruled because it had been the defender's decisive contact. McLeish had no complaints after studying a video replay, which showed that Ridgewell had played Rooney onside anyway.

The Birmingham manager, who confirmed the midfielder Michel is set to join from Sporting Gijon, praised his players for their resilience, determination and application, adding: "They've shown those qualities all season and this time you can add ability to that. They can be utterly proud of what they have done so far."

Ferguson agreed and said of the protege who played for him at Aberdeen and for Scotland at the 1986 World Cup: "Alex has done a fantastic job. He had players running a hundred miles for him tonight, and he has to take great credit for that."

Teams:

Birmingham City: Hart Joe, Scott Dann, Liam Ridgewell, Stephen Carr, Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson, James McFaden, Sebastian Larsson (Keith Fahey 82), Cameron Jerome, Cristian Benitez.

Manchester United: Tomasz Kuszczak, Jonny Evans, Wes Brown, Patrice Evra, Rafael da Silva, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes (Mame Biram Diouf 81), Park Ji Sung (Ryan Giggs 66), Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney.

Birmingham Inhibit Chelsea

It was Chelsea who were left with the blues after the battle thereof, dropping two more priceless points in a dangerous mid-season hiatus: they have only one win in their past seven matches in all competitions. The league leaders, who failed to score for the first time in 34 games, are increasingly vulnerable to Manchester United, whose trip to Hull today has the look of a gimme.

Birmingham, in contrast, are on the up and up – the division's form team with 17 points from their past seven games. They are unbeaten in their past 10, and would have claimed another notable scalp yesterday but for an erroneous offside decision which robbed Christian "Chucho" Benítez of what should have been the winner.

In fairness, defeat would have been hard on Chelsea, who created the lion's share of the scoring chances and were ultimately denied by a man-of-the-match performance from Joe Hart, who looked every inch the England goalkeeper in waiting. Alex McLeish, the manager at St Andrew's, said afterwards that he would love to make Hart, who is on loan from Manchester City, his first signing in January.

Birmingham's new owner, Carson Yeung, is committed to making "substantial" funds available, and McLeish's record in the market to date should get him whatever he wants – within reason.

Birmingham City 0-0 Manchester City: Given saves penalty

The sequence results of the Manchester City continued after they were held without a goal draw with Birmingham. Still additional one point was enough to take City into the big four.

Results obtained series 0-0 when a visit to the headquarters of Birmingham, Sunday(01/11/2009) is a balanced result obtained four besutan Mark Hughes's team in the Premier League four final action.

Three series of results obtained previously when faced Aston Villa (score 1-1), Wigan (score 1-1) and Fulham (score 2-2).

Against Birmingham, The Citizens appear dominant. Data from Soccernet showed Mark Hughes's men master the action with 57 percent mastery of the ball.

City 13 shots were fired and four leads to the goal. Conversely Birmingham launched ten shots on goal where half Menghujam City.

The Citizens deserve grateful to goalkeeper Shay Given who performed brilliantly. In addition denied James McFadden penalty in minute 56, Given also the host to stop the invasion, launched Lee Bowyer and Christian Benitez.

This game marked a red card to players Barry Ferguson in Birmingham last minute fight.

Results of the points of the visit to the Stadium St. Andrews brought City is now in fourth position standings with 19 points.