Football Live

Saturday December 15, 2007 Finished St Andrews

Logo 1 - Reading 1

Birmingham City

  • Forssell 4’

Reading

  • Hunt 50’ (pen.)
  1. Blues and Royals share spoils

    Blues and Royals share spoils

    Birmingham and Reading played out a 1-1 draw at St Andrews that denied both of them the chance to pull themselves away from the strugglers near the bottom of the table. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Birmingham City
    • Reading
    • 90' That's all folks! That chance for Hunt at the end could have changed everything, but it ends honours even! Thanks for joining us, don't forget that we'll have LIVE comments of Fulham v Newcastle coming up very shortly.
    • 89' Shane Long hounds down Kelly chasing a long ball and concedes a free kick. They come again and Doyle squares a low ball for STEPHEN HUNT... HE PUTS IT WIDE FROM EIGHT YARDS OUT! A terrible miss, the goal was at his mercy!
    • 87' It looks as though Hunt has moved over to the left and Kevin Doyle will go out onto the right for the finasl push. Doyle diga out a cross but it's over everyone.
    • 85' Bobby Convey is replaced by Shane Long as Reading throw three up front!
    • 84' Convey wins a corner for Reading as we enter the final few minutes. Shorey takes... Taylor catches well!
    • 81' Larsson wrestles the ball from Kelly and backheels to McSheffrey with an open goal... He JUST can't reach it!
    • 77' Convey swings in a corner for SONKO... He heads down into the ground and the ball bounces over the bar!
    • 73' The scorer for Birmingham Forssell is replaced by Garry O'Connor.
    • 71' Larsson takes it and it curls ONTO THE UPRIGHT!! Jerome gets to the rebound and shoots but CISSE SLIDES IN TO CLATTER IT AGAINST THE BAR! UNBELIEVABLE STUFF!
    • 71' Hunt fouls Forssell in a dangerous position for Reading. It's a little further out than from where Larsson. Can Birmingham use this one?...
    • 66' Muamba gets a head onto a cross and HAHNEMANN IS THERE AGAIN! muamba is flagged for offside anyway, but if the Royals go on to win this they have a lot to thank Hahnemann for!
    • 63' Liam Ridgewell goes into the book for a foul on Kitson. Reading deliver another poor free kick and Birmingham escape unscathed.
    • 60' Larsson strikes an excellent free kick and it's ANOTHER GREAT HAHNEMANN SAVE! A big few minutes for the American and for Reading!
    • 59' Harper challenges Larsson who had burst in to the box and the Blues have another corner! It's initailly cleared but the ball comes back in and GREAT SAVE HAHNEMANN FROM FORSSELL'S HEADER! Birmingham STILL have the ball and win a free kick on the edge of the box...
    • 57' This match has suddenly developed a frantic pace, although no such augmentation of quality! Jerome tries a flick round his defender with his back to goal but he can't chase after it.
    • 54' A Birmingham corner leads to some head tennis in the Reading area, and Hahnemann is forced to tip a header from his own player over the bar!
    • 52' Larsson swings over a deep cross for JEROME... He sent his header just over the bar! This match is opening up now!
    • 50' GOAL!! Hunt coolly rolls his penalty down the middle to level the score!
    • 50' Steven Hunt is through in the box and TAYLOR BRINGS HIM DOWN... PENALTY!!! Hunt places the ball and will take it himself...
    • 47' Reading have another throw in the final third. The ball is hacked across and Hunt misses his header but it comes to CISSE... He flashes his shot well wide! Steve Coppell has told them use those set pieces!
    • 46 The second half is underway at St Andrews!
    • 45+1 The first half ends with Birmingham in front. Reading have had plenty of set pieces but have wasted most of them.
    • 46' McSheffrey heads a cross back across goal but it hits Sonko and Reading break forward! The move comes to nothing.
    • 44' Harper is clean through on the left... GOOD SAVE AT HIS NEAR POST BY TAYLOR!!
    • 42' Nice reverse pass by McSheffrey to Jerome! He goes down under pressure form Sonko but the referee gives nothing. Just as well, as it would have been a red card.
    • 39' The Royals win another free kick out wide. Doyle glances the delivery over form the edge of the box.
    • 38' Reading waste a free kick a nd Birmingham break with Jerome! Murty topples him with a cynical foul! He rightly goes into the book. There was another man in front of Jerome, no need for the foul.
    • 35' A terrible header back to Hahnemann from Shorey and Jerome pounces and gets to it beofre the keeper! He has his back to goal and knocks it to Forssell but intwercepted! Almost a major embarassment for Shorey!
    • 32' Reading has been the ones creating all the chances, albeit from set pieces. Muamba and Sonko crash into each other as the Reading defender swings for a volley from the edge of the area.
    • 27' Kalifa Cisse comes on as Gunnarsson is taken away on a stretcher.
    • 24' Brynjar Gunnarsson is down injured after being stepped on by Damien Johnson He's limping off the pitch for treatment now, with a rather nasty gash on his leg.
    • 23' Shorey puts in a free kick from deep that is headed across goal and Larsson has to head out of Doyle's path and away for a corner, which is cleared.
    • 20' An interesting duel is emerging between Kevin Doyle and Liam Ridgewell. At the moment any time they meet ends with Doyle on the floor looking bemused!
    • 16' Schmitz is forced to clear for another corner. A close range shot and SAVED BY TAYLOR! Convey goes down in the box but the appeals are waved away by referee Lee Probert!
    • 14' Reading have throw in down the Birmingham end. Dave Kitson gives away a free kick for a foul on Kelly. Never mind, there'll another Nicky Shorey long ball up to him in a minute.
    • 10' Another fantastic bit of defending from sonko. he controls a long ball with one touch and sells Jerome a dummy to emerge with the ball.
    • 8' Cameron Jerome has been played through... Good tackle by Sonko!
    • 4' The Blues win their first corner. It comes in and Muamba heads to FORSSELL!! The Finn gives his side the lead just four minutes into his first start in weeks.
    • 3' Kevin Doyle attempts to charge down a backpass but Maik Taylor hoofs it away just in time.
    • 2' The Blues manage to scramble it away through Rafael Schmitz for another corner! This is time cleared fully, though not really in convincing style.
    • 1' The match is underway! Right away Reading win a corner!
    • - READING TEAM NEWS: Reading boss Steve Coppell has no new injury worries and could also have Michael Duberry back in the squad after the defender recovered from a rib injury.
    • - BIRMINGHAM TEAM NEWS: Midfielder Damien Johnson has recovered from a long-term hamstring injury and could start in place of the suspended Mehdi Nafti. Alex McLeish is looking for his second win as Birmingham manager, but will probably have to do without full back Johan Djourou.
    • - Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of Birmingham v Reading, from 15:00 GMT!

  • Team Stats

    Birmingham City Stats Reading
    56% Possession 43%
    17 Shots 12
    7 Shots on target 3
    0 Saves 0
    6 Corners 6
    18 Fouls 13
    2 Offsides 1
    2 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    20 Tackles 17
    174 Accurate passes 139
    41 Bad passes 63

  • 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 1 0 0 0 8 1 0
      5 Rafael Schmitz 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 14 1 3
      3 Matthew Sadler 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 18 13 2
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 19 1 1
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 1 0 1 5 0 0 16 3 3
      22 Damien Johnson 0 2 1 2 2 0 0 25 5 4
      26 Fabrice Muamba 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 14 1 2
      7 Sebastian Larsson 0 3 2 1 1 0 0 19 1 3
      9 Mikael Forssell 1 5 3 1 3 0 0 13 2 0
      10 Cameron Jerome 0 3 1 4 0 1 0 13 2 1
      11 Gary McSheffrey 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 14 9 1
      20 Daniel De Ridder 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Colin Doyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Garry O'Connor 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
      24 Radhi Jaidi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Stuart Parnaby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Reading
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Marcus Hahnemann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 4 0
      5 Ibrahima Sonko 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 10 0 3
      3 Nicky Shorey 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 21 24 1
      2 Graeme Murty 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 19 0 3
      16 Ivar Ingimarsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3 1
      15 James Harper 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 15 6 0
      6 Brynjar Gunnarsson 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 2
      10 Stephen Hunt 1 2 1 3 2 0 0 8 4 2
      17 Bobby Convey 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 11 10 0
      12 Dave Kitson 0 1 0 1 4 1 0 12 3 3
      9 Kevin Doyle 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 12 3 0
      22 André Stéphane Bikey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Leroy Lita 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Khalifa Cissé 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 4 3 2
      32 Adam Federici 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      24 Shane Long 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 3 1 0

  • Summary

    • 81' Larsson wrestles the ball from Kelly and backheels to McSheffrey with an open goal... He JUST can't reach it!
    • 71' Larsson takes it and it curls ONTO THE UPRIGHT!! Jerome gets to the rebound and shoots but CISSE SLIDES IN TO CLATTER IT AGAINST THE BAR! UNBELIEVABLE STUFF!
    • 60' Larsson strikes an excellent free kick and it's ANOTHER GREAT HAHNEMANN SAVE! A big few minutes for the American and for Reading!
    • 59' Harper challenges Larsson who had burst in to the box and the Blues have another corner! It's initailly cleared but the ball comes back in and GREAT SAVE HAHNEMANN FROM FORSSELL'S HEADER! Birmingham STILL have the ball and win a free kick on the edge of the box...
    • 50' GOAL!! Hunt coolly rolls his penalty down the middle to level the score!
    • 50' Steven Hunt is through in the box and TAYLOR BRINGS HIM DOWN... PENALTY!!! Hunt places the ball and will take it himself...
    • 44' Harper is clean through on the left... GOOD SAVE AT HIS NEAR POST BY TAYLOR!!
    • 4' The Blues win their first corner. It comes in and Muamba heads to FORSSELL!! The Finn gives his side the lead just four minutes into his first start in weeks.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Lee Probert

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Alex McLeish

    Captain: Liam Ridgewell

    On the Field

    • Taylor
    • Kelly
    • Schmitz
    • Ridgewell
    • Sadler
    • Larsson
    • Johnson
    • Muamba
    • McSheffrey
    • Forssell
    • Jerome

    Subs

    • Parnaby
    • Doyle
    • O'Connor
    • De Ridder
    • Jaidi

    Injured

    • Djourou

    Suspended

    • Nafti
    • Palacios

  • Reading

    Manager: Steve Coppell

    Captain: Graeme Murty

    On the Field

    • Hahnemann
    • Murty
    • Sonko
    • Ingimarsson
    • Shorey
    • Hunt
    • Harper
    • Gunnarsson
    • Convey
    • Doyle
    • Kitson

    Subs

    • Bikey
    • Lita
    • Long
    • Federici
    • Cisse

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None