[Liverweb] Birmingham Match Report

Liverweb Match Report

Liverpool 1 Birmingham City 1

Liverpool : Reina, Finnan, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard(C), Hamann,
Kewell, Garcia, Crouch, Morientes

Subs Used : Fowler for Crouch (62), Alonso for Gerrard (71)

Subs Unused : Warnock, Carragher, Carson

Ref : U.Rennie

Att : 43,851

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A late comedy own goal from Xabi Alonso ensured that Birmingham ran
off with a point from Anfield. In a game that was hyped up about the
return of Robbie Fowler the match just didn't quite burst in to full
life and Birmingham got a point from a match that should have been
over and done with a long time earlier.

The Reds started with Fowler on the bench whilst Dan Agger came in
for his Liverpool debut alongside Sami Hyypia. The Reds defended the
Kop end in the first half and Birmingham kicked off. What was good
about the first half hour of this match was that Birmingham turned
up and really wanted to have a go at the Reds. Pennant and Dunn were
both looking to get at the Reds with pace and skill. Dan Agger
started a bit nervously in the match and was often found wanting in
the opening minutes. Thankfully as time went on his confidence came.

Birmingham had the first decent chance of the night but Heskey just
couldn't quite get on the end of a Pennant shot. Steven Gerrard then
hit the bar at the other end in what was proving to be an open
encounter. David Dunn chipped a shot just over the bar eleven
minutes in to the game. For the Reds the best outlet ball was for
Harry Kewell who looked eager to get hold of it and run at his man.

Just after the half way mark Chris Sutton shot from distance but the
chance was saved by Reina at the second attempt. Minutes later at
the other end Crouch headed over the bar when he out jumped his
marker.

The game took a massive turn on twenty seven minutes when Damian
Johnson was red carded for an over zealous dive on Dan Agger in the
centre circle. Uriah Rennie was right next to the incident and
couldn't get his red card out of his pocket quick enough. Agger
needed treatment but returned from the sidelines straight away.
Birmingham at this point dropped Sutton off in to midfield. Minutes
later Dunn was forced off and Laziridis came on to replace him.

Against ten men you really have to make the ball do the work and
tire the opposition out. That's not something we did really. Crouch
fired a volley just wide before half time and then Garcia blazed
over just before the half time whistle blew. Half time needed a re
think surely and Xabi Alonso and the other subs were sent out to
warm up with Pako. Alonso for Hamann was the sub I had in mind but
as the teams arrived for the second half no change was made.

The Reds attacked the Kop end in the second half and as Maik Taylor
took to his guard he applauded the Kop. In the first minutes of the
half both Crouch and Agger went close with headers. It started a
time of Reds pressure which ultimately concluded with the opening
goal. That goal came on sixty two minutes from Steven Gerrard. Didi
Hamann squared the ball to Gerrard outside the area. He moved it to
Garcia in a one two and then to Morientes who broke clear in the
area. His pull back to Gerrard was side footed home past Taylor.

With the Reds now up they also brought Robbie Fowler on before the
game was re-started. This just brought the house down. Birmingham
also made a switch at this point as well which allowed more time for
chants of Fowler to go up and then chants of Robbie! The game now
was surely set for the Reds. Riise saw a volley from the edge of the
area tipped over the bar. A minute later Fowler was called offside
which brought the linesman a few heckles to say the least.

The Reds made a second switch when Gerrard was replaced by Alonso
which saw Sami Hyypia take over as captain on the pitch. With the
Reds in control this could carve the way for more goals surely.
However as time ticked on and the score remained one nil the Reds
slowly came under some pressure from Birmingham. They took a gamble
sometimes as well in pushing Sutton back up front and playing three
in the midfield. Pennant came back in to the game a bit more and he
was certainly amused at the chant of your supposed to be in jail
that went up for him.

The night turned dramatically though in the final five minutes of
normal time. On eighty five minutes Heskey was free in the box and
thumped a great header towards the net but Reina pulled off a superb
stop to push the ball for a corner. It gave Birmingham hope though
and with their side having some good headers of the ball you never
relaxed as they played corners in. Then on eighty eight minutes
Birmingham equalised. A nothing ball came over the defence and was
harmlessly trickling through to Reina. Alonso tried to help cushion
the ball on the line with his chest but inadvertently sent it in to
the back of the net.

Suddenly the Reds were level and it was panic now. Attack after
attack followed and you only wished this had happened at one nil and
not one all. Alonso nearly got his own back in the final minutes but
his free kick that was destined for the top corner was superbly
tipped over by Taylor. The Reds peppered the goal and Gray was
forced to clear off the line at one point as the Reds hit the bar as
well. Then in the final minute of stoppage time the ball was headed
on within the area and Fowler hit an overhead kick past Maik Taylor.
Most of the crowd went mad until they saw the offside flag up. It
was probably right but the script it has to be said was there for
Fowler and he was gutted.

Overall this was really disappointing because we had all the chances
to make this a comfortable three or four nil won but having dithered
around too much at one nil you leave the door open for the other
side to sneak in and score. That it was such a comedy goal to
concede as well was just a bad but you had this strange feeling that
a goal was coming.

MotM : Harry Kewell - looked really up for the game and was looking
to beat his man at every chance. The downside was that we didn't
give him enough ball.

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Match Stats
Liverpool Birmingham
65% Possession 35%
8 Shots On Target 2
10 Shots Off Target 1
5 Blocked Shots 0
11 Corners 3
14 Fouls 12
2 Offsides 3
0 Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 1

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