Birmingham City rose above the relegation zone, courtesy a winner from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Scott-Dann-c32662 right at the tail end of the match against Blackpool.
Dann got hold of the ball as it was deflected off the head of his partner, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Richard-Kingson-c31087 to get all 3 points for his team. Stephen Crainey made a mistake in the first half that enabled Alexander
Hleb to get the lead for Birmingham. DJ Campbell had knocked in a brilliant volley for Blackpool which looked to have secured a point for the home team, but the 89th minute goal from Dann broke Blackpool dreams.
The win was also the first away win for Birmingham and it moved them 4 places higher in the points table to the 15th spot.
However, looking at the bigger picture, it was unfair to some degree to Blackpool who certainly matched Birmingham stride by stride throughout the 90 minutes. The match was full of chances for both teams and Birmingham hit the post twice, while Blackpool
struck it once.
Former Arsenal and Barcelona player, Alexander Hleb got his first start of the season after he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Hleb made his presence felt within the first 2 minutes. Hleb played a brilliant ball to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liam-Ridgewell-c22240, who went deep towards
the bye-line and laid it off to Matt Derbyshire, but Matt could not deflect the ball towards the goal despite the close range.
Derbyshire was later the one providing the ball as he set up http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cameron-Jerome-c8284, but he too squandered the chance from close range.
Blackpool should have been in front when Matt Philips got on the end of a good cross from Charlie Adam, but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ben-Foster-c7445 did well to stop it with his legs.
The opener finally came after the first 24 minutes of the first half. Craieny, playing as left-back for Blackpool, made a horrendous pass across his goal and Hleb latched onto the gift. Helb went one on one with the keeper and cleverly slotted the ball in
to make it 1-0.
The home side attempted to level almost instantly- Philips got on the end of a well placed free kick but his header’s placement was off and it remained 1-0.
Blackpool continued to attack the away team, while Birmingham looked quite content with the lead and were prepared to hold back. Finally, the pressure paid off and Blackpool got the equalizer.
Neal Eardley sent in a cross which was headed back by Gary Taylor onto Campbell. The front man was well placed in the center of the danger area and he smashed the ball in to make it 1-1.
In the final few minutes, the game turned quite exciting as both teams looked determined to win.
It was Birmingham, though, that got the precious winner in the 89th minute. It was the substitute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jean-Beausejour-c18118 who sent in a good cross which was headed down by Johnson and deflected towards Scott Dann. Scott was quick to react and calmly
slotted the ball past the keeper to the roaring applause of the travelling fans. It was also the first time Birmingham had beaten Blackpool in 50 years, which came after 11 games.
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