Birmingham City 2-2 Sunderland

The boys who earned a point at St Andrew’s for Roy Keane’s Sunderland can not be accused of not wearing the pants in their relationship’s with their other halves. They showed grit, determination and spirit; all attributes of  their manager’s playing days with Manchester United. Twice they battled back, after letting in goals from an adept Birmingham side. The first goal coming from new North East golden boy Michael Chopra, who made it two goals in two games for the Black Cats, after a clinical finish. 

If you expected Sunderland to show complacency after their 1-nil victory against Spurs, then the way the way the Sunderland team performed in this match showed that they are no pushovers. On the other side Birmingham showed their pedigree as well, picking up where they left off when the played Chelsea at the Bridge where they nearly managed to get a 3 points from the former Champions. In the end the two newly promoted teams both cancelled each other out, both in performance, points and controversial decisions…

The first goal of the game came after 28 minutes. Former Arsenal youth player Sebastian Larsson floated in a freekick into Sunderland’s penalty area, where Stephen Kelly rose the highest to direct the ball across the visitors goal.  Paul McShane who was so impressive against Tottenham, was unlucky to put the ball past his own keeper when the ball came off of his chest, past Craig Gordan.

The goal made Sunderland come out of their slumber as they rallied against Birmingham’s goal. They were unlucky not to get a penalty, when Stephen Kelly was seen to of shoved David Connoly in the area as both of them battled for the ball. But referee Keith Shroud waved on.  Birmingham almost added insult to injury when they nearly went 2 nil up, when Johan Djourou glanced his near post header wide just before half time.

Sunderland however showed a real sense of urgency to get back in the game after the break and were rewarded in the 75th minute. Along ball floted in from midfield did not seem to pose any danger to the Birmingham defence, in what should of been an easy clearance, Liam Ridgewell missed the ball. This gifted the perfect opportunity for Michael Chopra to further endure himself to the Sunderland faithful, to which he did not dissapoint stealing in to finish with aplomb.

Gary O Connor a late arrival in the match, and one of Steve Bruce’s new £2.5 million signing from Locomotiv Moscow,  looked to upset the visiting fans when he stole in to score his debut goal eight minutes from time.  The Scottish international took a pass from the impressive Mikal Forsell and weaved around Mc Shane before hitting his shot past Craig Gordan.

However Sunderland refused to give in , and rallied back immeadiately. Carlos Edwards made a piercing run with the ball before angling a cross for Stern John who could only see his header hit the woodwork. The Trididadian striker had to wait till the 90th minute thoughto score past his former club. A direct freekick was awarded for Sunderland which Ross Wallace struck violently only to see his effort saved by  Colin Doyle. His parried shot seemed to hang in the air for ages and it would of been enough time for him to pick himself up from the floor to collect the rebound, but Stern John headed in at the far post. Doyle was unlucky to not have a freekick given to him as he was impeded by Sunderland’s Roy O’ Donovan which had left Steve Bruce talking about a sense of injustice after the match:

“I was determined not to go on bleating about referee’s when we came back to the Premier League. But we all saw their centre forward jumping all over our keeper. The referee missed it and so did the linesman”

Filed under: birmingham, football, premiership, soccer, sports, sunderland

Match of the Weekend (and the rest of the games)

As i cannot physically write all match reports i am going to pick out the best game then links for the rest.

Chelsea 3  Birmingham City 2

Last season, if Chelsea were to be compared to a national football team it would probably be Italy, with their philosophy of Catenaccio (bolt door). The emphasis here is on defence and organisation, then nicking the odd goal at the other end. This season , and judging from their first game, the agenda has changed for Mourinho’s Chelsea, with the aim to play less like Italy and more like Brazil. Therefore if the opposition scores two past your side, you should aim to score three.

One of Mourinho’s soundbites from last season, was his criticism of a particular team that although won a match, had still let in too many goals for his liking. He had described that match as a cricket score and not a game of football. However his team were singing to a different tune on Sunday, with the starting lineup speaking for itself. He employed a classic 4-4-2 formation with the inclusion of two pacy wingers and a pair of nimble strikers. The outcome of this was a free and easy approach for the West Londoners that could make space for itself but at the price of allowing scope for the opposition

The Chelsea player who seemed to most benefit most from this free flowing type of football was the much censured Shuan Wright-Phillips. Previously and if i were to be metaphoric, the winger played as if he were constrained to something; an object a type of play, always fighting to break free yet to no avail. On Sunday he was playing as if he had dispose of these shackles , and had garnered a renewed self confidence that enabled him to pop up everywhere down the right flank, deliver inviting crosses and give the opposition full back a torrid time.

With Mourinho’s new faith in wingers in his set up, it was down to them after Birmingham had first taken the lead, and then equalised , to rescue three points for his side. Chelsea began the game with intent, a crossfield ball from Shuan Wright-Phillips finding Salomon Kalou on the left side of the Birminham penalty area where he squared for the onrushing Malouda who could only see his shot sail over the bar. Their second relevant attack came when Wright-Phillips hustled Steve Ridgewell for the ball on the right wing. Ridgewell tried to intercept the ball but could only clear under pressure to  new signing Claudio Pizarro. Pizarro plays in Wright-Phillips whop has broken free and has found himself one-on-one with the keeper. From a tight angle S.W.P sends his shot wide, and if he can improve on his finishing like he has done with the rest of his game in this match he shall be one to reckon with this season.

After all this pressure from the home side, it is however the visitors who open the scoring. In the 15th minute, Ricardo Carvalho gives away afree kick near the edge of the area. As Gary Mc Shefrey sends the free kick in, captain Steve Ridgewell helps it on its way in the air, giving Mikael Forsell the easiest task of nodding the ball past Petr Cech with his head. Being a former Chelsea boy himself, and appreaciating how the fans stood by him when he had injury problems he neglects to celebrate the goal.

The response from Chelsea was almost immeadiate. Michael Essien sends a long ball to WrighT-Phillips on  the far right who then lays it off for Malouda. Malouda returns th ball to Wright Phillips, who has made a run into the Birmingham area who cuts the ball back for Pizarro to score. In the 31st minute Chelsea found themselves in thelead. Salomon Kalou sends a cross from the left into the area but it is cleared but only as far as Malouda who is covering the position of Ashley Cole. Running with the ball at the Birmingham defence, Malouda puts in a through ball for Frank Lampard, who subsequntly backheels it for Kalou. After still continuing his run, Malouda finds himself with a one-on-one with Birmingham keeper Doyle, after a brilliant ball from Kalou. As seen in the Community shield the French winger seems to be great in these sort of positions and hits it first time past Doyle into the net.

Birminham’s response to Malouda’s goal was to hit back after approximatly four minutes. Spotting the weakness in Chelsea’s defence in Glen Johnson, Olivier Kapo Birmingham’s aquisition from Juventus teased and tormented the right back  on the right, before skipping past him and unleashing a thunderous shot past the helpless Cech. If the score had remained as it were the Birminham players would of been satisfied in getting a great result against the former Premiership winners and FA Cup holders at the Bridge. However Chelsea’s Micheal Essien had other ideas. From a great pull back from Wright-Phillips Essien’s powerful drive managed to beat Doyle and earn the Blues three points.

The win has ensured that Mourinho’s side had set a new unbeaten league record of 64  at home.  They achieved this while playing with creativity, and class and that the win merited. The trip to Reading on Wednesday shall be intriging with Mourinho stating that he will continue to play the same way with Wright-Phillips keeping his place. But when Terry comes back and Didier Drogba returns to full fitness, will Mourinho continue on this course in order to regain the Premiership, or will he favour the cricket score?

 The rest of the matches courtesy of “A cultured left foot” (Arsenal) and “Sky Sports”.

West ham 0-2 Manchester City (Sky)

Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool (Sky)

Bolton 1-3 Newcastle United (Sky)

Derby 2-2 Portsmouth (Sky)

Everton 2-1 Wigan (Sky)

Middlesborogh 1-2 Blackburn (Sky)

Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham (Sky)

Manchester United 0-0 Reading (Sky)

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham (A cultured left foot)

Filed under: Chelsea, birmingham, football, premiership, soccer, sports

Mido to move to Birmingham for £6 million

It has been reported that Egyptian strker Mido will move to Birmingham for a £6 million fee. Initially Mido was scheduled to move to Birmingham for a one year loan deal after struggling to make an impression at Spurs last season.

But with the arrival of Darren Bent from Charlton this summer and having to compete with Robbie Keane, Berbatov and Jermain Defoe up front, his move to Birmingham is likely to turn permanent.

If the deal goes through, subject to Mido agreeing personal terms and passing a medical it will be Steve Bruce’s largest buy of the summer.

The Birminghma manager is also reported to be interested in Mido’s Tottenham teammate and compatriot Hossam Ghaly

Filed under: birmingham, football, football transfers, soccer, tottenham