Championship - Phillips saves day for Birmingham

Eurosport - Fri, 21 Nov 23:54:00 2008

Kevin Phillips' second-half brace stole all three points for Birmingham in their Championship match with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.

FOOTBALL 2008/09 Championship Birmingham's Marcus Bent congratulates Kevin Phillips after scoring the winner against Swansea - 0

Phillips, a second-half substitute, rifled in a 20-yard screamer to seal the win which sees Blues move to within three points of Wolves at the top of the table.

Swansea had gone in ahead at the break thanks to a Jordi Gomez strike and an own goal from Radhi Jaidi while Marcus Bent scored the visitors' first.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish made two changes to the side that beat Charlton last weekend with Mehdi Nafti replacing Phillips and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie coming in for the suspended Nigel Quashie.

Swansea manager Roberto Martinez picked Gorka Pintado ahead of Jason Scotland, who dropped to the bench after playing for Trinidad and Tobago in midweek.

McLeish's side got off to the worst possible start when they went behind after two minutes.

Federico Bessone surged down the left before crossing to Gomez who stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Maik Taylor from close range for his fifth league goal of the season.

Taylor then had the woodwork to thank for keeping Pintado out after the Spaniard's header hit a post after 23 minutes.

The Swans' efforts suffered a blow after 36 minutes when star midfielder Ferrie Bodde had to be carried off with an injury.

Birmingham then hit back through Bent with a close-range header from Nicky Hunt's

cross with three minutes of the first half remaining.

But the hosts regained the lead in injury-time when Jaidi deflected an Angel Rangel cross into his own goal.

Swansea started the second period well and nearly increased their lead after 56 minutes but Mark Gower's 18-yard shot was blocked by Liam Ridgewell in the box.

Bent then sent a free-kick into the Swansea box where Sebastian Larsson headed straight at Dimitrios Konstantopoulos.

McLeish then brought on Phillips as he looked to give his side a more attacking edge and the striker made an immediate impact by levelling the scores after 74 minutes.

James McFadden, who played for Scotland against Argentina barely 48 hours ago, broke down the left and delivered a pin-point cross into the box where Phillips nodded home to pick up his seventh of the season.

Phillips' eighth of the campaign came five minutes later when he picked up a Bent pass to hammer home from 20 yards.

Martinez called on Scotland as Swansea piled on the pressure in search of an equaliser.

The Trinidad and Tobago striker could not repeat the impression Phillips had made for Birmingham though, and City closed the game out to secure the vital win.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 10 of 10

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  1. The football is not attractive to watch and won't get them out of this division...i think Reading and Wolves will go straight up and Birmingham will end up losing in the play offs. I think a new manager is needed with some fresh ideas before we start to slide down the table.

    From kop it, on Mon 24 Nov 3:19PM

  2. THE FANTASTIC CHELSEA,,THE FANTASTIC ARSENAL,,THE MIGHTY LIVERPOOL,,THE FANTASTIC MAN UTD,,,@#$%,IF YOU TAKE ALL THE FOREIGN PLAYERS OUT THEY WOULD BE NO BETTER THAN SAY WEST HAM OR PORTSMOUTH ETC,BIRMINGHAM MAY NOT PLAY ATTRACTIVE FOOTBALL AND BY THE WAY BEAT SHEFFIELD,BUT THEY GRIND OUT RESULTS,SWANSEA PLAYED US OF THE PARK IN THE FIRST HALF BUT WHERE DID IT GET THEM,ATTRACTIVE 2,GRIND OUT 3,IN THIS DIVISION YOU HAVE TO BATTLE AND IF IT MEANS PLAYING THE WAY BLUES DO TO GET OUT OF IT THEN SO BE IT,,,

    From DAVE, on Mon 24 Nov 12:06AM

  3. Could be time for a change of manager to bring some flair back to the team.

    From kop it, on Sun 23 Nov 10:17PM

  4. the mighty blues ?
    the mighty blues are in the south not the midlands !!!
    and yes i am a blue nose ,,,we are the worst footballing side in all the leagues ,,,
    this lot we have would not possibly get in the wolves side or sheffield sides i hate it we are GARBAGE !!!!

    From Robert G, on Sat 22 Nov 10:26PM

  5. Yes it is the object of the game to score but if the football is rubbish then no-one will see it....and at this rate the attendances will continue to plummet.

    From kop it, on Sat 22 Nov 9:54PM

  6. JUST REMEMBER,THE SWANS WERE UNBEATEN AT HOME UNTILL BLUES BEAT THEM,WOLVES COULD NOT BEAT THEM EITHER,,,LOOK,YOU CAN BE IN YOUR OWN HALF FOR THE WHOLE GAME BUT IF YOU GO DOWN THE OTHER END AND SCORE IN THE 90TH MIN,YOU DESERVE TO WIN,,THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO SCORE,NOT HOW GOOD YOU PLAY,,,GOALS WIN THE GAME,ENOUGH SAID...

    From DAVE, on Sat 22 Nov 12:13PM

  7. i think carsley is making a difference. wot a job he does. unsung hero !

    From mark, on Fri 21 Nov 11:41PM

  8. @#$% and more @#$%

    From shaun938@..., on Fri 21 Nov 10:32PM

  9. how are we 2nd?

    From James, on Fri 21 Nov 10:16PM

  10. Another poor performance but three points....hardly enough to bring the crowds back though.

    From kop it, on Fri 21 Nov 10:12PM
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