Football Live

Saturday April 12, 2008 Finished St Andrews

Logo 1 - Logo 1

Birmingham City

  • Zarate 83’

Everton

  • Lescott 78’
  1. Birmingham dragged into danger

    Birmingham dragged into danger

    Birmingham City slipped to within two points of the relegation zone as they drew 1-1 at home to Everton while Bolton and Fulham both won. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Birmingham City
    • Everton
    • 90+5' Game over, and that is not a result that suits either side. Birmingham are dragged back into the relegation mire, while Everton's hopes of finishing fourth take another blow.
    • 90+4' Last chance Birmingham from a corner... JAIDI!! His header lacks the power to test Howard.
    • 90+1' Phil Neville suddenly finds himself with space in the Birmingham box but finds his shot blocked.
    • 89' Final change from Everton, as Thomas Gravesen comes on for Yakubu.
    • 86' The crowd are now roaring the home side on in search of a winner. McSheffrey crosses from the left but it is an easy catch for Howard.
    • 83' GOOOOAAALLLL!!!! Zarate Despatches the free-kick and Birmingham are on terms! He curls it beautifully into the top-left corner and Howard doesn't even bother moving!
    • 82' Birmingham free-kick just outside the box, and it looks like Zarate will take it...
    • 79' That is Joleon Lescott's ninth goal of the season, just redirecting a header past Taylor. The bad news for Birmingham fans is that Bolton and Fulham are both winning - if things stay as they are Brum will be just a point above the drop zone!
    • 78' GOOOAAALLL!!! EVERTON LEAD AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY!! Johnson digs out a chipped cross from the byline, Yakubu heads goalwards and Joleon Lescott deflects it in from less than a yard out!
    • 77' A Manuel Fernandes long shot is deflected behind for a corner. Danger here for Birmginham.
    • 76' On comes Argentinian 'whiz-kid' Mauro Zarate for James McFadden. That's the final roll of the dice for Birmingham.
    • 73' This just in - that yellow card was for handball. Heinous indeed.
    • 71' Yellow card Lee Carsley, and I have to be honest here - I didn't see what it was four. Let's assume it was something really heinous.
    • 68' AMAZING DOUBLE SAVE FROM HOWARD!! Jaidi strikes a magnificent dipping volley that Howard dives full length to tip it away, and then he pulls off a fine reflex stop from McFadden's follow-up! Easily the best moment of the match!
    • 65' Pienaar has to go off, and here comes yet another striker in the rather large form of Victor Anichebe. Will Everton go three up top?
    • 63' McFadden lines up a 25-yard free-kick and STRIKES!! Howard gets across to his left to save it but the ball looked perilously close to the line when the American stopped it. No appeals from Birmingham, however.
    • 61' Pienaar has crumbled to the turf and is holding the back of his left leg. It could be a hammy, or it could be a fuss about nothing.
    • 59' A long Phil Neville throw from the right finds Jagielka but his header is weak and Birmingham break now. The move finishes as Muamba smacks the ball halfway to Wolverhampton.
    • 56' Fabrice Muamba stays down in the Everton box after stretching for a through ball. He looks as though he'll be OK to go on. Birmingham have already made two changes remember.
    • 54' Much more like it from Birmingham, as McSheffrey ferrets his way into the box and wins a corner before Brum mount another encouraging attack.
    • 52' The corner clears the first man and drops for RIDGEWELL!!! He somehow volleys over from just two yards out! That was the finish of a hardened centre-back. So close to the opening goal.
    • 51' McFadden twists and fires, and his effort is deflected behind for a corner. This is better from the home team.
    • 48' A Birmingham corner comes to nothing. And there is little more to add to that.
    • 46' Another change for Birmingham - Garry O'Connor on for Mikael Forssell. Thank goodness for all those strikers on the bench.
    • 46' Second half under way. Let's see if either side with attacks with any more purpose than they did in the first half.
    • 45+2' Next! A frankly tedious half of football. Admittedly we had that Cameron Jerome effort, but otherwise there was very little to get the pulse racing.
    • 45+1' With what might very well be his first touch, Andy Johnson shifts the ball into shooting position but drags his effort wide from a tight angle.
    • 44' Pienaar gets to wrapped up in his intricate pieces of skill that he takes the ball out of play. Nafti gives him one of those supposedly friendly but actually really annoying pats on the face.
    • 42' Dire attempt on goal from Yakubu, who volleys wide for a Birmingham throw. He hasn't been the same since missing that open goal against Derby, clearly.
    • 40' JEROME HITS THE POST!! It was a move inspired by the nifty footwork of James McFadden and culminating in a Cameron Jerome header that comes back off the base of the right-hand post. Howard was well beaten.
    • 38' Everton free-kick on the right. Fernandes delivers. Badly. The visitors win it back but promptly give it away again, Not exactly conducive to flowing prose.
    • 36' McFadden gets the better of Baines and cuts in from the right. He takes a low shot and it is an easy save for Howard. At least it was on target, though.
    • 34' Ha! Mehdi Nafti tries a left-foot volley but slices it straight into the air. Dismal effort.
    • 33' Excellent Birmingham corner, forcing Howard to punch clear from right under his crossbar. Much better - that was from McFadden.
    • 30' Bit of a clumsy challenge on Yakubu by Nafti, but the Nigerian made the most of it. Certainly not worth a yellow card, but Steve Bennett disagrees.
    • 27' Well, you wouldn't exactly describe this as white hit action. Birmingham have yet to have an attempt on goal. Everton have not tested Maik Taylor, but are at least showing willing.
    • 25' Jerome has gone straight in to the left side of midfield, where Larsson was based. It's not his usual position, and you might have thought McLeish would shuffle McFadden to the left.
    • 24' An early, enforced change for Birmingham. Larsson has strained something and is replaced by Cameron Jerome, who is one of three forwards on Alex McLeish's bench (O'Connor and Zarate the others).
    • 22' Forssell has sustained a bit of a knock to the foot. He is limping around a bit but doesn't seem interested in getting medical attention.
    • 20' What happened there?? Total confusion at the back from Birmingham allows Lescott to sneak in behind Ridgewell but the England man cannot force the ball in!
    • 17' Now a corner for Birmingham. Larsson delivers again but Howard makes an authoritative catch.
    • 15' Larsson can deliver an inswinging free-kick from the left for Birmingham... it's poor. Easily headed away by Hibbert.
    • 13' It's a little bit of a yawn at the moment. I'm sure it will liven up, though.
    • 11' Howard intercepts a mildly dangerous Sebastian Larsson at one end, while at the other Yakubu takes a speculative shot that dribbles well wide.
    • 9' It's been a week for Karren Brady, who was of course arrested on Wednesday. She is in the crowd, hiding behind an enormous pair of sunglasses.
    • 8' Fernandes tees up Carsley for a long shot, but the effort is poor. It screws off the outside of his boot and goes wide.
    • 6' A pretty quiet start here. About the only thing of note is Everton's away kit, which is just a slightly-darker-than-usual blue. A bit of a clash with the Birmingham bog-standard blue.
    • 3' There is no Mikel Arteta for Everton - he is out with an abdominal problem - but Steven Pienaar makes an unexpected return to the team. James McFadden has also passed a late fitness test and starts up front for Birmingham alongside Mikael Forssell.
    • 1' It's game on at St Andrew's! A win would probably make Birmingham safe, while Everton also need three points to maintain their assault on fourth place.
    • - It is a day that could go a long way to settling the relegation battle! Fulham, Bolton, Birmingham and Sunderland are all in action, with wins more vital than ever. Stick on the main Premier League live page for highlights from around the grounds or click the individual match links for full coverage of every game!

  • Team Stats

    Birmingham City Stats Everton
    42% Possession 57%
    16 Shots 16
    6 Shots on target 4
    0 Saves 4
    11 Corners 1
    6 Fouls 9
    1 Offsides 0
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    21 Tackles 20
    165 Accurate passes 259
    44 Bad passes 46

  • 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 0 0 0 8 0 0
      14 David Murphy 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 12 7 1
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 10 3 3
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 1
      24 Radhi Jaidi 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 8 2 4
      12 Mehdi Nafti 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 37 6 2
      26 Fabrice Muamba 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 14 2 5
      7 Sebastian Larsson 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 2 0
      9 Mikael Forssell 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 7 3 1
      16 James McFadden 0 6 2 3 0 1 0 7 4 1
      11 Gary McSheffrey 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 12 1
      15 Franck Queudrue 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Mauro Zárate 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 1 0
      10 Cameron Jerome 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 1
      8 Garry O'Connor 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 13 2 1
      13 Colin Doyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Everton
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      24 Tim Howard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
      3 Leighton Baines 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 21 13 1
      2 Tony Hibbert 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 24 1 3
      5 Joleon Lescott 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 22 3 5
      16 Phil Jagielka 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 31 1 3
      18 Philip Neville 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 35 4 2
      26 Lee Carsley 0 1 0 3 1 0 0 21 1 2
      20 Steven Pienaar 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 21 6 2
      23 Manuel Fernandes 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 32 7 1
      22 Yakubu Aiyegbeni 0 3 0 0 2 0 1 19 9 0
      8 Andrew Johnson 0 3 2 0 1 0 0 15 1 1
      19 Nuno Valente 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Thomas Gravesen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      4 Joseph Yobo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      33 Stefan Wessels 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Victor Anichebe 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+4' Last chance Birmingham from a corner... JAIDI!! His header lacks the power to test Howard.
    • 83' GOOOOAAALLLL!!!! Zarate Despatches the free-kick and Birmingham are on terms! He curls it beautifully into the top-left corner and Howard doesn't even bother moving!
    • 78' GOOOAAALLL!!! EVERTON LEAD AGAINST THE RUN OF PLAY!! Johnson digs out a chipped cross from the byline, Yakubu heads goalwards and Joleon Lescott deflects it in from less than a yard out!
    • 68' AMAZING DOUBLE SAVE FROM HOWARD!! Jaidi strikes a magnificent dipping volley that Howard dives full length to tip it away, and then he pulls off a fine reflex stop from McFadden's follow-up! Easily the best moment of the match!
    • 63' McFadden lines up a 25-yard free-kick and STRIKES!! Howard gets across to his left to save it but the ball looked perilously close to the line when the American stopped it. No appeals from Birmingham, however.
    • 52' The corner clears the first man and drops for RIDGEWELL!!! He somehow volleys over from just two yards out! That was the finish of a hardened centre-back. So close to the opening goal.
    • 40' JEROME HITS THE POST!! It was a move inspired by the nifty footwork of James McFadden and culminating in a Cameron Jerome header that comes back off the base of the right-hand post. Howard was well beaten.
    • - It is a day that could go a long way to settling the relegation battle! Fulham, Bolton, Birmingham and Sunderland are all in action, with wins more vital than ever. Stick on the main Premier League live page for highlights from around the grounds or click the individual match links for full coverage of every game!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Alex McLeish

    Captain: Liam Ridgewell

    On the Field

    • Taylor
    • Kelly
    • Jaidi
    • Ridgewell
    • Murphy
    • Larsson Substitution Out (24′)
    • Muamba
    • Nafti Yellow Card
    • McSheffrey
    • Forssell Substitution Out (46′)
    • McFadden Substitution Out (76′)

    Subs

    • Queudrue
    • Doyle
    • O'Connor Substitution In (46′)
    • Jerome Substitution In (24′)
    • Zarate Substitution In (76′) Goal

    Injured

    • Kapo
    • Taylor

    Suspended

    • Johnson

  • Everton

    Manager: David Moyes

    Captain: Philip Neville

    On the Field

    • Howard
    • Hibbert
    • Jagielka
    • Lescott Goal
    • Baines
    • Neville
    • Fernandes
    • Carsley Yellow Card
    • Pienaar Substitution Out (65′)
    • Yakubu Substitution Out (89′)
    • Johnson

    Subs

    • Gravesen Substitution In (89′)
    • Wessels
    • Yobo
    • Valente
    • Anichebe Substitution In (65′)

    Injured

    • Gardner
    • Arteta
    • Cahill
    • Vaughan

    Suspended

    None