Football Live

Saturday February 23, 2008 Finished St Andrews

Logo 2 - Logo 2

Birmingham City

  • McFadden 28’, 90’

Arsenal

  • Walcott 50’, 55’
  1. Eduardo breaks leg in draw

    Eduardo breaks leg in draw

    A horrific broken leg suffered by Eduardo overshadowed a dramatic 2-2 draw between Birmingham and Arsenal at St. Andrews. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Birmingham City
    • Arsenal
    • FT AND THERE IS THE FINAL WHISTLE - William Gallas can't believe it - Arsenal have dropped two points in a truly dramatic afternoon - thank you for join us for our coverage.
    • 90+5 AND MCFADDEN BURIES THE PENALTY WITH STYLE - 2-2 WHAT A GAME!
    • 90+3 PENALTY FOR BIRMINGHAM - Clicy brings down Parnaby - a tough decision - it looked like he got some of the ball.
    • 90' We will have four extra minutes.
    • 89' Arsenal make a late double change - Denilson and Gilberto come on for Hleb and Walcott.
    • 86' Arsenal have a bit more space to play with now that Birmingham are looking to push on and if we have a fourth goal it looks like it will be from them - Bendtner has just dragged a good chance wide.
    • 83' Birmingham not given this match up - Muamba has nearly got a shot away just inside the box but it was blocked.
    • 80' Arsenal now just playing the ball around in midfield as they try and see this match home.
    • 77' Adebayor breaks the offside trap and is one-on-one with Taylor - he can square it to Bendtner if he wants but decides to try a low effort into the corner but the Northern Ireland keeper makes a great save.
    • 74' Screams from the Birmingham fans who felt that McFadden was fouled on the edge of the area but the referee waves it away.
    • 70' Arsenal have put their foot off the gas a bit now but they don't need to do anything silly and it is hard to see Birmingham finding a way back into this although Zarate has looked lively since coming on.
    • 67' Zarate nearly catches Almunia with a free-kick when everybody was expecting a cross but the keeper manages to get down low and punch clear while under pressure from Ridgewell.
    • 66' Birmingham have made their final change with Nafti on for Larsson.
    • 63' Sagna is found down the right and he whips in a cross - Adebayor again gets his head on it but the ball was behind him and he can only head over.
    • 59' Walcott puts a snap shot wide after being fed by Adebayor - he is in the mood for a hat-trick.
    • 59' It has all gone wrong for Birmingham - Kapo has pulled up and is going be replaced by Zarate.
    • 55' WALCOTT SCORES AGAIN !! Ridgewell gives the ball away cheaply and then Walcott sprints forward, cuts in from the right and whips home a low left foot drive.
    • 54' OFF THE POST FROM FABREGAS - Walcott plays it across to Fabregas and he sort of mis-hits but it still beats Taylor only to role against the post - ALL ARSENAL now though.
    • 53' Taylor has to make another flying save to deny Hleb's deflected effort.
    • 52' Arsenal are flying forward with much more intent in this second half now and Birmingham are really up against it.
    • 50' But now Arsenal are in front - another corner and Adebayor gets up ahead of Taylor to win another header and Theo Walcott turns in his first Premier League goal for the club from close range. Taylor feels he was fouled but there was nothing in it.
    • 48' Fabregas curls a good shot from just outside the box but it is well saved by Taylor.
    • 47' Bendtner gets in at the front post and gets a head on a Fabregas corner but it goes over.
    • 46' And we are back underway.
    • HT So there is the half-time whistle. 10-man Birmingham in front but Eduardo's injury the big story.
    • 45+9 Birmingham survive more late pressing for Arsenal and there is the half-time whistle.
    • 45+6 McFadden looks to clear on goal but Senderos gets back like a bullet and does enough to put the Scotsman off and he puts a very poor shot wide.
    • 45+3 Birmingham defending deeper and deeper now - this tactic might get them into trouble you feel - still a long way to go. Meanwhile Flamini is furious with Muamba for a foul - no card though. Fabregas curls in the free and Senderos heads it over.
    • 45+2 We will have NINE extra minutes - not a big surprise given the Eduardo incident.
    • 45+1 But Fabregas can only curl it into the wall - Walcott then puts in a cross that causes lots of problems but Bendtner was pushing.
    • 45' Arsenal now a free-kick in a position close to where Birmingham scored - Larsson brings down Flamini for the free.
    • 44' Adebayor is winning every header but Kelly and Ridgewell are doing enough to stay close to him and to make sure the Togo man isn't allowed to get a proper contact on any of the efforts.
    • 41' And now Adebayor screws another header wide - lots of half-chances from Arsenal but they can't quite open Birmingham up.
    • 40' A great long ball from Fabregas finds Adebayor in behind the defence as it bounces he looks to lob it over Taylor but he makes a mess of it and it goes wide.
    • 36' The Birmingham back four are doing superb today - great stuff from Ridgewell as he nicks the ball from Adebayor and then runs all the way deep into the Arsenal half before being stopped by Senderos.
    • 33' Great block by Kelly - the Irishman who has moved to centre-back since the exit of Taylor dives to stop a Bendtner shot getting on target after the Dane had got on the end of a Adebayor knock down.
    • 31' Arsenal look to hit back and Adebayor turns Ridgewell in the box but illegally so - free out for Birmingham.
    • 28' AND MCFADDEN HAS CURLED IT AROUND THE WALL AND INTO THE NET!!! The Scotsman with a great free-kick - Almunia maybe could have done better and prehaps tried saving it with the wrong hand but the 10-men are in front.
    • 28' Persistent play from McFadden sees him earn a free kick just inside the D.
    • 27' Flamini makes a mess of trying to turn in a low cross but is still able to then play the ball to Bendtner who is in a decent area but he side-foots his effort tamely straight at Taylor.
    • 24' Birmingham look like they are just going to sit back with their 10-men and try and hold Arsenal out - the Gunners are trying to play the ball around at the moment and create chances but understandably it looks as if their minds are on other things.
    • 21' Walcott sides foots a volley first time after been found beyond the far post but it is straight into the hands of Taylor.
    • 20' Some good feet by Kapo on the edge of the area and then he gets one of these low half-cross, half-shot efforts but nobody can nick in to turn the ball in and it goes wide.
    • 18' Fabregas tries a shot from distance but it whistles over the bar.
    • 17' Fabregas put Adebayor in the clear but Birmingham stepped up well and the Togo man was offside.
    • 15' Birmingham now have no option but to make a change. Forssell is sacrificed and Parnaby comes on.
    • 13' Strange atmosphere in the ground now - Arsenal are trying to get on with it though - Walcott has just had a shot blocked and then Adebayor did well to get his head to a high cross but he couldn't get any power or direction on the effort.
    • 10' A big round of applause from all four corners of the ground as Eduardo is finally stretchered off - Bendtner comes on after an eight minute delay.
    • 6' We are going to have a long delay here - some Arsenal players really look in a daze here it will be interesting to see if they can put this to the back of their minds. Again, Sky have decided NOT to show a replay of the tackle and by all accounts it was a horrid tackle. Eduardo still on the ground.
    • 3' By the reaction of the players it looks like Eduardo has broken his leg - the Arsenal players look ill after that horrow show tackle. Sky have decided not to replay the tackle as a matter of taste.
    • 3' WE HAVE A RED CARD AFTER JUST TWO AND A HALF MINUTES!! - Martin Taylor has gone.
    • 1' And we are underway - the two teams will be attacking their own fans in the second-half.
    • - There is going to minute applause for former Birmingham captain Len Boyd who died aged 84 recently while the Arsenal players are wearing black armbands as Bacary Sagna's brother died suddenly earlier this week.
    • - It is hard to recognise Mr Adebayor today - the locks have been cut! He looks a bit like a bigger version of Kolo Toure now with his new haircut.
    • - Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Eduardo, Adebayor Subs: Lehmann, Denilson, Silva, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte
    • - Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Kelly, Martin Taylor, Ridgewell, Murphy, Larsson, Johnson, Muamba, Kapo, McFadden, Forssell Subs: Doyle, Jerome, Nafti, Zarate, Parnaby
    • - Find the teams below and it is good news for Arsenal fans - Adebayor and Hleb are both fit to start, while Almunia comes back in for Lehmann.
    • - Welcome to our LIVE coverage of the first Premier League game of the day - it is Arsenal's trip to Birmingham.

  • Team Stats

    Birmingham City Stats Arsenal
    29% Possession 70%
    6 Shots 30
    2 Shots on target 11
    3 Saves 0
    1 Corners 7
    14 Fouls 9
    3 Offsides 4
    0 Yellow cards 2
    1 Red cards 0
    39 Tackles 17
    160 Accurate passes 522
    29 Bad passes 132

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Birmingham City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Maik Taylor 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 2 0
      4 Martin Taylor 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
      14 David Murphy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 6 3
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 0 4
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 11 3 5
      22 Damien Johnson 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 21 5 7
      26 Fabrice Muamba 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 19 2 8
      7 Sebastian Larsson 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 15 0 3
      23 Olivier Kapo 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 17 6 3
      16 James McFadden 2 3 2 2 3 2 0 13 4 1
      9 Mikael Forssell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
      13 Colin Doyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Mehdi Nafti 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 0 1
      10 Cameron Jerome 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Stuart Parnaby 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 15 0 2
      19 Mauro Zárate 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 1
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      24 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 2 0
      10 William Gallas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 34 2 2
      22 Gaël Clichy 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 76 35 4
      3 Bacary Sagna 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 53 0 1
      6 Philippe Senderos 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 41 7 1
      4 Francesc Fabregas 0 8 2 1 2 0 0 78 20 2
      16 Mathieu Flamini 0 2 1 4 2 0 0 77 21 4
      32 Theo Walcott 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 27 2 0
      13 Alexander Hleb 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 68 30 2
      25 Emmanuel Adebayor 0 7 2 5 0 3 1 28 6 0
      9 Eduardo da Silva 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Gilberto Silva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
      15 Denilson Pereira Neves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      1 Jens Lehmann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Justin Hoyte 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 4 1 1 0 0 0 24 7 1

  • Summary

    • 90+5 AND MCFADDEN BURIES THE PENALTY WITH STYLE - 2-2 WHAT A GAME!
    • 77' Adebayor breaks the offside trap and is one-on-one with Taylor - he can square it to Bendtner if he wants but decides to try a low effort into the corner but the Northern Ireland keeper makes a great save.
    • 55' WALCOTT SCORES AGAIN !! Ridgewell gives the ball away cheaply and then Walcott sprints forward, cuts in from the right and whips home a low left foot drive.
    • 54' OFF THE POST FROM FABREGAS - Walcott plays it across to Fabregas and he sort of mis-hits but it still beats Taylor only to role against the post - ALL ARSENAL now though.
    • 53' Taylor has to make another flying save to deny Hleb's deflected effort.
    • 50' But now Arsenal are in front - another corner and Adebayor gets up ahead of Taylor to win another header and Theo Walcott turns in his first Premier League goal for the club from close range. Taylor feels he was fouled but there was nothing in it.
    • 48' Fabregas curls a good shot from just outside the box but it is well saved by Taylor.
    • 45+6 McFadden looks to clear on goal but Senderos gets back like a bullet and does enough to put the Scotsman off and he puts a very poor shot wide.
    • 40' A great long ball from Fabregas finds Adebayor in behind the defence as it bounces he looks to lob it over Taylor but he makes a mess of it and it goes wide.
    • 28' AND MCFADDEN HAS CURLED IT AROUND THE WALL AND INTO THE NET!!! The Scotsman with a great free-kick - Almunia maybe could have done better and prehaps tried saving it with the wrong hand but the 10-men are in front.
    • 3' WE HAVE A RED CARD AFTER JUST TWO AND A HALF MINUTES!! - Martin Taylor has gone.
    • - Find the teams below and it is good news for Arsenal fans - Adebayor and Hleb are both fit to start, while Almunia comes back in for Lehmann.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Alex McLeish

    On the Field

    • Taylor
    • Kelly
    • Taylor Red Card
    • Ridgewell
    • Murphy
    • Johnson
    • Muamba
    • Larsson Substitution Out (66′)
    • Forssell Substitution Out (15′)
    • McFadden Goals×2
    • Kapo Substitution Out (59′)

    Subs

    • Nafti Substitution In (66′)
    • Parnaby Substitution In (15′)
    • Doyle
    • Jerome
    • Zarate Substitution In (59′)

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    On the Field

    • Almunia
    • Sagna
    • Gallas
    • Senderos
    • Clichy
    • Walcott Goals×2 Substitution Out (89′)
    • Flamini
    • Fabregas
    • Hleb Substitution Out (89′)
    • Adebayor
    • Eduardo Substitution Out (10′)

    Subs

    • Lehmann
    • Gilberto Silva Substitution In (89′)
    • Hoyte
    • Bendtner Substitution In (10′)
    • Denilson Substitution In (89′)

    Injured

    • Rosicky
    • Toure
    • van Persie
    • Diaby
    • Djourou

    Suspended

    • Eboue