Unpredictable

Last minute goals, victories for the underdog, ridiculous circumstances no one thought would happen. The thing I love most about football is its unpredictability.

This weekend we watched two unpredictable ends to two important games. Wigan scoring in the 90th minute to beat top dogs Manchester City, winning the FA Cup for the first time in their history, followed the next day by the play-off semi-final second leg involving Watford and Leicester. A penalty and the follow-up saved at one end, and ten seconds later the ball in the net at the other end all in the dying seconds of the game.


Last gasp winners. Images: Sky News / Getty Images

It was fascinating to watch particularly the latter unfold. I don’t have any real affiliation to either Leicester or Watford, but I watched the events unfolding before my eyes with the hairs standing up on my arms, because this is what football is all about.

Watching both games made me remember, not for the first time, why I and millions of others are so engrossed in this sport. We go every week for moments like this. The underdogs beating a top team, not only in a competition as big as the FA Cup, but in the last minute to win the trophy like Wigan did is something special.

Being a Birmingham City fan I’ve experienced that moment with my own team; I could never forget Obafemi Martins scoring in the 89th minute to win us the League Cup against Arsenal, nor my first ever European away game against Brugge with Chris Wood scoring the winning goal in added time. And who could forget Stern John in the last minute at Villa Park?

Wembley Winners. Image: The Guardian

These instances don’t happen every week in football. Often you have to wait for wonderful, completely unscripted moments like last minute goals and unpredictable wins, but it’s worth the wait. The tough and grueling games you have to sit through to get there, the losses you suffer, the relegations you go through. The great moments make it all so worth it.

And when you're on the other end of it? I'm sure if you speak to any Leicester fan this week they'll tell you how much it hurts going from jubilation to complete despair. We've all been there, but it's the great moments, when you're the ones celebrating at the end, that make up for the heart break.

Although there will always be the Manchester Uniteds and the Arsenals of this world going for titles and Europe, and the same crop of teams battling relegation every season up and down the leagues, moments like this weekend just show that football is never completely predictable.

There will always be moments of magic, teams who take the script, rip it up and write a completely new one.

And the best thing? It happens in every league, in every competition. Wigan in the 90th minute to win the FA Cup, Didier Drogba equalising in the last minute to take the Champions League final to extra time, Brentford missing a penalty and Doncaster scoring at the other end to send them up as Champions, Martins to win the League Cup, Chris Wood to seal an away victory in Europe, Sergio Aguero to win the league.

Here’s to the teams who do the unthinkable, who threaten the top teams, who ruin bets, break hearts, make dreams come true. This is what makes football the greatest sport on earth.

"I swear you'll never see anything like this ever again"

Battle of the Blues

Last night’s FA Cup replay between Birmingham City and Chelsea was perhaps overshadowed by the sacking of Andre-Villas Boas prior to the game, and as such not as much focus was put on the match itself. After a toughly contested battle at the Bridge in which the Championship side stood toe to toe with the Premier League elite for the whole of the ninety minutes, the Blues from Birmingham had every right to be confident going into yesterday evening’s fixture. But in the battle of the Blues it was the London contingent who came out smiling.

An injury-hit Birmingham fielded a weakened team from their weekend’s draw against Derby County. Midfielder Guirane N’Daw was drafted in at left back, whilst out and out striker Adam Rooney played in more of a winger’s role. Chelsea again fielded a team fit to grace the Premier League, just like they had at Stamford Bridge where the teams drew 1-1, with Petr Cech, Fernando Torres, Saloman Kalou and Gary Cahill just some of the big name players in the starting line-up.

But once the game kicked off it was a different story. Again, Blues were Chelsea’s equals: frustrating the away side and playing the better football in the opening periods of the game. Nikola Zigic’s sublime flick of the ball set up Wade Elliott early on, but the midfielder was unable to take advantage of some outstanding play. Chelsea’s defence were put on red alert soon after, with Zigic again getting in on the act; this time setting up Nathan Redmond who, on his eighteenth birthday, was dispossessed before he could unleash a shot on goal.

After some half-chances for Chelsea that were coped with well by the Blues defence, the forty minute mark saw the home side come inches from getting their noses in front. Jordon Mutch’s free kick met the head of Curtis Davies, who’s header was flicked goal wards by Zigic. The ball looked to be heading for the roof of the net until Cech pulled off a fingertip save to deny the Serbian. The tables then turned, this time with Chelsea having a brilliant chance to break the deadlock, but Torres shot horribly wide and was suitably jeered by the Tilton for his simply awful effort.

Roberto Di Matteo’s half time team talk certainly worked wonders as Chelsea came out of the blocks second half with intent to wrap the game up early on. They had break through not long after, with Juan Mata finally getting the better of Colin Doyle and putting his side in front.

Minutes later and they had their second, this time Raul Meireles firing an unstoppable shot past Doyle who had no hope. Blues looked like they were going to be on the wrong end of a big score-line, and it got worse when N’Daw’s trip on Torres gave Chelsea a spot kick. But Doyle was the shot stopping hero again, foiling Mata like he had at the Bridge and giving Blues hope that they may get something out of the game.

With time left Blues produced attack after attack. Hughton threw caution to the wind and opted for three at the back, in the hope that his side would get back into the game. Their best chance of the game fell to Mutch as substitute Chris Burke fed him a perfect ball but, one on one with the keeper, Mutch fired agonizingly over the goal.

And two nil it finished, but Blues can admire their courageous efforts against one of the Premier League’s top teams. All focus is now solely on promotion, with the chase heading to relegation strugglers Coventry City on Saturday. Blues, although in the top six, may find themselves outside of it come match-day with Brighton and Cardiff due to play each other later on this evening.

"Birmingham, from the Championship, did their club proud"

The mid-week game between promotion pushers Birmingham City and Hull City was well-matched, toughly fought and, ultimately, it came down to two great defences not letting much past them. A point is a point, and it was time to turn attentions elsewhere: to the FA Cup tie at Chelsea.

If there is ever a good time to play a team like Chelsea, it’s now: a certain air of mutiny is about the Bridge, with manager Andre Villas-Boas certainly not a fans’ favourite. Yet, compare them to high-flying Blues; a team who are all pulling in the same direction and a manager who has a strong relationship with the fans, yesterday’s cup tie turned into a battle of spirit and guile: and if anyone came out on top of the 1-1 draw, it was Birmingham City.

Backed by a loud following, it was the away side who surprisingly drew first blood in the tie. Although Chelsea had the majority of possession, which was to be expected, Blues saw the counter attack as a weapon in their arsenal and their second corner of the game, thanks to some lacklustre defending from the London Blues, meant David Murphy fired his side into the lead with a well-struck shot.

The home fans were stunned; the away fans, all 3,000 of them, quite the opposite. Still in delirium and after celebrations that were as loud and as chaotic as scenes from a few months ago in Brugge, Blues shot themselves in the foot just two minutes later when Wade Elliott gave away a penalty.

Colin Doyle, who was dropped in 2007 after a poor game at Stamford Bridge, was completely in the zone. He resembled Joe Hart as he shouted at his players and waved his arms about, using distraction tactics to warn off Juan Mata. And it worked. Mata’s well struck penalty was equaled by the right hand of Doyle who pushed the shot on to the post before it was eventually cleared, much to the delight of the Birmingham fans to the left of that goal who celebrated the save as if it were another goal for their own team.

A resilient Blues held off the Chelsea possession and pressure, and played some brilliant football their selves at times. Morgaro Gomis in midfield particularly impressed, breaking up play and brilliantly slotting into a midfield that he doesn’t often get into as if he played there every week. It is a testament to manager Chris Hughton that his players can so easily do this; he can utilize squad rotation and make it effective, which is why our Europa league campaign and our continuing FA Cup run this season have been so successful.

An extremely agitated Chelsea began to get restless as the game wore on, with fans growing ever impatient with manager AVB. But, the first time Chelsea actually got the ball on the wing and sent in an inch perfect cross, was the first time Chelsea looked like beating Doyle – and they did. Daniel Sturridge rose and curled in a beautiful header, beating the Ireland shot stopper and relieving some of the pressure off the shoulders of his manager.

After some nervy final moments and a late Nathan Redmond chance that he should have done better with, the full time whistle was blown and was met with boos from the home fans but, in the corner of the Shed End, a magnificent noise erupted as the travelling Bluenoses reveled in a fantastic performance by their weakened Championship side against a Chelsea team fit to grace the Premier League. Blues fans saluted first players and then manager, serenading the latter who has now lead Blues on a fourteen match unbeaten run and made sure their name is in the pot for the FA Cup quarter final draw for the third season in a row.

Although we now have an extremely congested fixture list, which will become almost unmanageable if we beat Chelsea and have to play a quarter final tie and have another match postponed, no one is going to say no to a replay against one of the Premier League’s top teams in England’s greatest cup competition.

The Best Of You

There was a time where we could barely muster a goal away from home, let alone a win. But the past few days have given us a passage into the fifth round of the FA Cup, three valuable league points and eight goals to celebrate.

First a tough test at Bramall Lane proved to be a much more straight forward victory than expected. After a shaky start Blues cruised to a 4-0 win, with Nathan Redmond starting the scoring on 18 minutes when his boot connected with Jordon Mutch’s corner and found the back of Steve Simonsen’s net. Blues doubled their advantage twenty minutes later, this time lone striker Adam Rooney got on the end of Chris Burke’s ball to add to his goal scoring tally for the season and stake his claim for a regular place in the side.

The Championship side were comfortable in possession and you could only see them scoring more goals. Their third came on the 58 minute mark; Wade Elliott broke from midfield and unleashed a shot from 20 yards out before running off in celebration in front of the 4,100 Brummies who had made the short trip up to Sheffield. Blues gave their fans even more to sing about with a Brazil-esque goal 12 minutes from time. After a succession of thirteen passess – all met by ‘Ole!’from the away fans clearly enjoying their day out – David Murphy slid the ball into the box with Rooney in the right place at the right time to finish off a perfect move.

Blues had some late defending to do to prevent a late consolation goal for the League One side, but due to their desire to keep a clean sheet as much as they want to score a goal, the Midlands outfit were able to keep their four goal advantage intact, setting up a tough but much welcomed away tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the next round.

Just a couple of days later Blues returned to league action, where their promotion push was boosted massively after coming from behind to win 4-1 against Leeds United. The home side started the game on the front foot and went ahead just before the twenty minute mark, courtesy of Ross McCormack’s low shot in the penalty area which crept past Boaz Myhill.

But a resilient Blues fought back to claim their second away victory in Yorkshire in just three days with Serbian striker Nikola Zigic, who has been linked with numerous moves away from St Andrews during the transfer window, bagging all four of his teams’ goals. The first came just on the half hour mark, with a headed goal from close range, which allowed Blues to play with more confidence again as they were back on level terms. His second and third goals came within three minutes of each other; both from short distance and both showing just how much belief the players in the side have to turn the game on its head.

But Zigic wasn’t done there; his fourth and final goal came with just twenty minutes left of the game, and it was another headed goal as the giant Serb towered over the Leeds defence to score again, before being substituted for Adam Rooney, another striker on top form at present.

Blues saw out the game to record their fourth successive away victory and remain unbeaten in 2012. A phenomenal season just gets better, and a tough test against Southampton on Saturday will more than test the spirit of Hughton’s men.

Progression

After a less than exciting 0-0 draw at St. Andrews, last night saw a tightly contested FA Cup third round replay between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City, ultimately ending the Championship side coming out on top courtesy of a single, scrappy goal scored by Wade Elliott. In a game of few chances it was Blues who out-shone the home side, playing the more attractive football in front of a seriously depleted crowd of just over 10,000 at the Molineux, and overall it was a deserved win for Blues. Here are a few points to consider from yesterday evenings tie:

The Goal
Both ties proved to be lacking serious goal mouth action so it was probably a given that the first, and only, goal would come from a goal-mouth scramble in which lacklustre defending allowed Elliot to first hit the post and then score from a few yards out from the rebound. On reflection it was probably a deserved goal; and there can be little complaints for the Wolves faithful. It was also an earned goal for Elliot; the former-Burnley man had a comfortable and tidy game in midfield, and staked a case to be included in the starting eleven on Saturday when Blues host Watford in the league.

Adam Rooney
Playing up front on his own, Rooney received little joy last night and there were plenty of calls for him to be replaced by either Marlon King or Nikola Zigic, who had been rested for the tie. But with that in mind, he did well to make himself a handful for the Wolves defence for the whole ninety minutes, and had a brilliant chance in the first half to put Blues ahead however; going one on one with Dorus De Vries, before taking too many touches and getting tangled in the legs of George Elokobi who arrived on the scene just in time.

Case for the defence
Curtis Davies and Steven Caldwell, two essential cogs in Chris Hughton’s well-oiled defensive machine again proved their worth; keeping Kevin Doyle, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and even Steven Fletcher, coming on as a late second half substitute, at bay. Again they coped with everything that was thrown at them and kept a second consecutive, and extremely deserved, clean sheet. The man in the goals behind them, Colin Doyle, after impressing in the draw against Wolves the first time around, regained his place in the side and showed just why Chris Hughton continues to install faith in the long-serving Blues player. Making comfortable saves when needed, Doyle wasn’t called upon all too much last night, but a sign of a good goalkeeper is keeping concentration: and when the rest of his defence stopped and called for offside, he kept his head in the game and pulled off a magnificent double save late on to deny Wolves an equalising goal – and it was just as well, as the offside flag was never risen.

Overall
It was a resilient and ultimately deserved victory for Blues, whose 2,300 fans who made the short journey to the Black Country went home happy. Confidence is on a complete high now, after consecutive away victories, consecutive clean sheets, and seven goals scored in the last two games. With 36 games played and still more to go, it’s going to be an extremely exciting end to the season for Hughton’s team, who have a real chance of getting into the play-offs, and are in with a shout of progressing further in the FA Cup; with Sheffield United of League One waiting in the next round.

Still In With A Shout

The romance of the FA Cup may have been in full force elsewhere yesterday, but it certainly didn’t appear anywhere during the extremely dull encounter between Midlands rivals Birmingham and Wolves at St. Andrews yesterday afternoon, in what was a far from enthralling encounter culminating in a 0-0 draw.

Beforehand we were aware that the game was not a priority for either manager; with Chris Hughton chasing the play-off places and promotion and Mick McCarthy trying to keep his teams’ head above the water in the race for Premier League survival. Therefore both sides chose to play weakened teams, although Wolves’ changes were limited, and certainly had more Premier League quality players in their stating eleven, whilst Blues went for their second string who put up a good fight against their Midlands counterparts.

One of the positive points from the match, along with another clean sheet and our unbeaten home run still intact, was the midfield; Guirane N’Daw and Morgaro Gomis in particular, both linking up well in midfield and the former getting the man of the match award yet again, and rightly so. After taking a while to adapt to the English game, the on-loan Senegal international has won over Blues fans with his no-nonsense tackling and his whole-hearted displays in the centre of midfield. The African Cup of Nations will now mean he misses a handful of games, depending on how far Senegal progress in the competition.

Colin Doyle is another player who deserves praise after yesterday, and it is positive to note that we can call upon a player, who rarely plays, and know we can trust him to put in a good performance. His double save in the dying minutes of the game yesterday sparked the home crowd into rapturous applause for the Republic of Ireland shot stopper, who deserves all the praise he gets after his instinctive saves to deny Wolves passage into the 4th round of the FA Cup.

The return of Roger Johnson was another talking point of the afternoon; the outspoken defender made his first return to St. Andrews and received a mixed reception, mostly being booed by Blues fans. Coming up for a corner in the first half, Johnson was mocked and booed and replying by looking towards the Tilton and shaking his head, as if he expected more from the fans who adored him not even a year previously. I must admit, I wasn’t one of those who booed him, but I did find it funny when he got injured and had to go off; resulting in a famous Roger tantrum: throwing his captains armband off in disgust as he was helped off the pitch, and subsequently taking his frustration out on the away dugout.

The 0-0 draw definitely wasn’t an advert for Midlands football, nor for the FA Cup itself, but the replay suits the home side more than the away side and I am confident we can go to The Molinuex and progress into the next round of the FA Cup. Can we go one better than we did last year in England’s (second) best cup competition and make it to the semi-finals, or maybe even the final, at Wembley?

So Close

First off I just want to say how immensely proud I am of the players today. It was a make-shift team somewhat - not that I'm using that as an excuse - and they took a strong Bolton team right down to the wire and we were unlucky not to get a replay, or even win. The battle and persistence they showed today proved that we have got more than enough to stay up; we just need to replicate that in our Premier League games now, starting with Wigan next weekend.

All of the changes made for the game today were forced upon McLeish, but that's not to say their replacements were poor - far from it. With early chances from Blues and Bolton, and with both teams having their fair share of the ball, it was a pretty even game until the away side managed to take the lead. Elmander was fed the ball in the six yard box and with no oncoming pressure from the Blues defence, he neatly shot past Foster to give his side the lead.

Another two changes had to be made soon after with Ferguson picking up a thigh injury and Jiranek also having to go off - so on came Redmond and Ridgewell in their place.


Blues picked up the pace and after a positive amount of pressure, they finally found the equaliser. Cameron Jerome - who has been getting better and better in the last few games - was persistent, and eventually brought the ball down well and shot hard past Jaaskelainen to level the score.

It was Blues who were in the ascendancy for the remainder of the half, and at half time there were many positives that could be taken from the first forty-five minutes, even though we had sustained two injuries to key players.


Blues kept up the pressure at the beginning of the second half, and could have had a penalty when Jerome was one on one with Jaaskelainen and fell to the floor, however it seemed to be the right decision from the referee who only awarded a corner.

The St. Andrews crowd were really getting loud now and could sense a goal to put them ahead in the tie, and that almost came when a corner was swung in by Larsson from the right, which found its way to Phillips who would have put his side in front were it not for the goal line clearance from Lee Chung-Yong - with his first touch of the ball after coming on as a substitute!

Blues almost rued their missed chance a couple of minutes later when Kevin Davies found the back of the net, only to be flagged offside. Blues fans and players were relieved, but a short while later Bolton found themselves ahead again when they were awarded a penalty after Davies (of Blues) seemed to foul his namesake, and Davies (of Bolton) shot hard down the middle and sent the Bolton fans crazy.

With just ten minutes left Matt Derbyshire - the forgotten man in recent games- stepped up to the side of the pitch, presumably to come on in place of Kevin Phillips. But Super Kev, just outside the area, saw the ball come over his head and stuck a foot out. He just got contact and the ball looped over the head of the Bolton keeper; it really showed the never say die attitude of not only Blues, but of Super Kevin Phillips who truly is one of the best finishers English football has ever been graced with.


This really put more and more belief into a Blues team who had it in abundance already. As the fans rose to their feet, applauding and singing "that's why we're champions," the players kept on fighting and trying to win the game. Unfortunately, Blues were to concede a cruel last minute goal from Lee Chung-Yong and there was no way back for Blues this time.


It was a valiant effort by the side and all the players put in a great performance. Jordon Mutch, Seb Larsson and Cameron Jerome particularly impressed me; Larsson especially as he was absolutely everywhere on the pitch today, showing that he does love the club and that he does want to stay here. Even though we lost there are many positives to take from this game. If a make-shift team can put in that performance then there is no reason why our fully fit first team can't replicate it. Another positive being Jordon Mutch and Nathan Redmond who are most definitely the future. Also, when was the last time our two strikers scored in the same game?!

I'd like to finish this by congratulating Bolton; thank you for a great game today: end to end, exciting, and I hope you have a great day out at Wembley. Hopefully we can beat you in the league now as a little consolation for today - just like we did against Portsmouth last season!

It would have been great to get to Wembley again but not we can concentrate on the league and hopefully kick on and win a few - whilst emulating this performance. Plus, it's saved us a bit of money, which can go straight into the 'European Tour' fund...

Full Time: Birmingham City 2-3 Bolton Wanderers

We seem to like the cups...

So we're 90 minutes from Wembley again after the comfortable victory against Sheffield Wednesday earlier this afternoon. 3-0 in the end but really it could and should have been more. Easy this cup lark, isn't it?!

An early break to kill the game almost instantly was just what a needed against a Sheffield Wednesday side that has been poor of late and not won since way back in December. Capitalising on this was Jean Beausejour who scored his first goal in a Blues shirt after just five minutes of the match, side-footing the ball expertly into the net.

It was clear soon after that we were the team in control. Early goals are always vital to a teams performance as we witnessed earlier on in the week, on Tuesday against Newcastle. Fahey and Hleb created a good partnership and understanding in midfield together; both staking a claim for inclusion in the Wembley squad next Sunday.


The second goal of the afternoon came curtsy of a brilliant through ball by the man I just mentioned Hleb, who passed the ball to Martins on the left. He ran like a train through the defence and slid the ball into the back of the net with only eleven minutes off the game gone. The famous back flips were unveiled and Blues were now in cruise control to sail onto victory and through to the quarter finals.

Hleb really was showing his Premier League quality, as were the rest of the team, but it was especially unfortunate to see Alexander unfairly tackled and taken off through injury after only 20 minutes of play. Bentley came on as a substitute for him, which is a big indication of how far we have come if we can take Hleb off and bring Bentley on in an F.A Cup fifth round tie against Sheffield Wednesday! Albeit that both of them are on loan...

Blues had a handful of chances in the rest of the half, with Fahey's excellent free kick being palmed away, and the most clear cut chance being when Bowyer picked up the ball on the left and drove in a shot which seemed to him Cameron Jerome, who was unable to get control of the ball before it bounced passed the post. And Blues went in at half time with a comfortable two goal lead in a game they were dominating.


The second half started like the first, and Blues made a substitution which saw Phillips come on in place of Jerome. The game was all but over just 10 minutes later. A corner from Fahey was driven into the box almost on the goal line, where Bowyer seemed to come behind the keeper - much to the surprise of the Wednesday players! - and guide the ball into the path of David Murphy who fired in from close range.

Obafemi Martins almost got a brace after a smart Bentley run and a great cross clipped Martins on his heal and somehow managed to go just over the bar! But Blues were already in the driving seat and the miss wasn't too costly.


Although the away side piled on a late spell of pressure, they never really threatened Colin Doyle who seemed comfortable and assured all game and did everything that was asked of him. In fact, all the players played really well today and it was a great game to watch. Stephen Carr hardly ran all game but he didn't need to; Parnaby and Johnson were a solid partnership in defence and Murphy also had a good game with a goal to his name too. The midfield of Bowyer, Bentley, Fahey and Beausejour controlled the game with Fahey again playing a great central role as he did in the previous round against Coventry City.

Roger Johnson was substituted for Jordon Mutch near the end of the game, much to the disappointment of the centre half (we all know what he's like!) It's great to see a player so determined not to be substituted, but he's a player we need for the final and a silly injury or a stupid sending off was not something we wanted.

So, it was a comfortable win against quite a poor Sheffield Wednesday side. We didn't pick up too many threatening injuries and hopefully Hleb will be fit for the bench for the final next Sunday. All that's left to say now is well done today Blues, and I'll see you all at Wembley!

Full Time: Birmingham City 3-0 Sheffield Wednesday

The Masters of the Comeback

The game seemed like a real anti-climax at first. It's not that not any of us wanted to lose, it's just that the game seemed like it didn't matter as much as everything else going on, i.e. a relegation battle in the league and trip to Wembley in the Carling Cup. Nevertheless, McLeish fielded quite an attacking team, showing he was determined to win the tie and keep up Blues' good record in both domestic cups this season.

Surprisingly we started the better side, which isn't something we see too often. Just a few minutes in and Bentley bombed down the left hand side and whipped in a ball which Zigic met and headed agonisingly wide. Kevin Phillips, getting a rare start, also came very close to giving Blues the lead; but it was the away side who drew first blood in the tie. Marlon King picked up the ball on the right and with Ridgewell lying on the floor with a head injury, he was unmarked and able to have a great shot on goal which sailed past the Blues keeper Doyle and sent the 6,000 travelling Coventry fans crazy.

The Championship side found their feet in the game then, and began to take more control in the tie despite Blues still posing that great attacking threat with Bentley and Beausejour running the wings. Coventry's second of the game came thanks to a McSheffrey corner, a strong Richard Wood header and some questionable Blues defending.

But even at 2-0 down you felt that Blues were going to at least take the tie to a replay. It's just the Blues way. And Bentley brought the home side right back into it when 25 yards out he unleashed an unstoppable shot that looped over the head of goalkeeper Westwood and stunned the rest of the Coventry team. Half time, 2-1, and game most definitely on.


The turn of the half saw Blues completely go for it. You sensed an equaliser straight away, and it almost came courtesy of Beausejour; after a signature ball into the box by Bentley, all Beausejour had to do was head it in from a few yards out, but the ball skimmed off his head and went agonisingly wide of the post. However, this didn't stop Blues, and with 67 minutes gone of the game Nikola Zigic did some superb battling on the right hand side and was able to get the ball to Hleb before being knocked to the floor. Hleb took the ball on and crossed into the area and his pin-point ball found Parnaby who was on hand to equalise for the home side; finishing off a really good move by Blues.


On the up now, Blues just kept on attacking. Kevin Phillips had numerous shots on target throughout the game yet couldn't find the back of the net... that was until the 74th minute when he popped up with the winning goal. After being denied by Westwood, Blues won a corner, and when the ball landed at Phillips' feet in the area, you could have put money on him finishing: and he did. 3-2 Blues, and try as they might the Coventry players just couldn't find a way back.

Hleb had a great game in midfield and although he over did it at times, his attacking play was brilliant and he was a great asset to the side today. As was evergreen Kevin Phillips, who even managed to play the whole ninety minutes, getting into key positions and then popping up with the winning goal as well. The whole team seemed very assured today, and despite going two goals down never really looked like they were in trouble. In the end, it could have been 4 or 5-2; It was a great team performance second half. Well done Blues.

Full Time: Birmingham City 3-2 Coventry City

We're on our way

With the team still high on a rare win away on Tuesday, they were looking to pick up another in the FA Cup at Millwall today - and they did just that! Changes were made with Foster given a well deserved rest, Scott Dann made captain and the rest of the defence being dropped to make way for Parnaby, Murphy and Jiranek. The midfield was attacking with Gardner, Mutch, Beausejour and Hleb starting, and Derbyshire partnering Zigic in attack.

The players in the team all had a point to prove, but it was the home side who started better, but they weren't able to convert the chances they had. They paid for their lack of clinical finishing when Blues went on a counter attack in the 17th minute with Beausejour sliding the ball through to Derbyshire who calmly chiped the ball into the net from a wide angel - a top finish from a striker who deserved his chance.


After the setback, Millwall continued to press, but the Blues defence coped reasonably well with what was thrown at them, and again Millwall were made to rue their missed chances when Blues got their second of the game: Beausejour again helped in the making, as Derbyshire was brought down on his run towards goal after a neat ball through from the Chilean. Murphy stepped up and beautifully looped the ball over the wall and into the net to give the away side a comfortable lead.

Blues were playing with a aura of confidence now and more chances came their way. A Gardner free-kick was parried away and Derbyshire almost got onto the loose ball before it was blocked by a Millwall defender. The shape of the Blues midfield was causing the Lions the most problems; Hleb went wherever he pleased and kept the ball moving, Gardner's surging runs forward gave a real threat to the Blues attack, Mutch's distribution and eye for space was key, and Beausejour had one of his best games in a Blues shirt, always going forward and tracking back when needed.

Milwall got back into the game as the half wore on, and looking for a response got a couple of corners and a handful of chances; with James Henry's shot from far out nearly getting his team back into the game, and an offside goal as well - deemed the correct decision after replays were shown.


But Blues punished the home side again just before half time. Matt Derbyshire was in the right place at the right time once again to finish calmly after a 1 on 1 from a piercing through ball from Gardner. The away side finished the half 3 goals to the good and oozing with confidence.

With Millwall not only looking for a response but now desperately needing one, they came out the blocks quick and had a succession of chances. A penalty was awarded to the home team which was labelled by commentators as "very soft", but maybe luck was on our side as the penalty as struck poorly and Maik Taylor was able to save it, and it was cleared for a corner, which prompted a goal-mouth frenzy, with shots galore and the ball finally being cleared off the line and away to safety. Clearly, it was just not Millwall's day.

With Beausjour searing for the goal that he deserved,it was clear that the fourth goal was not very far away at all. But much to the Chilean's disappointment, it wasn't him that scored it. Fahey, who was substituted of in place of Hleb, put in a brilliant cross on his wrong foot and Jerome who had just came on for Zigic headed the ball home; a brilliant day at the office for Blues. It didn't stop Millwall trying though, and as fans headed for the exits, they got a deserved consolation from Schofield in extra time.

This will do our confidence the world of good going into Tuesday's important Carling Cup semi-final first leg: two away wins on the bounce, we couldn't possibly make it three, could we?

Full Time: Millwall 1-4 Birmingham City