Bolton v Birmingham City: half time report
Bolton 0 Birmingham City 1
Roger Johnson's first goal for Birmingham City and a red card for goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen has left Bolton with a mountain to climb at the Reebok Arena.
The visitors got off to the perfect start when Johnson put the home side ahead on the third minute. Good work from James McFadden on the left allowed Lee Bowyer to get to the byline, and his neat cutback across the face of goal was flicked on by Cameron Jerome and poked home by the centre-back.
Over the next 20 minutes, Bolton struggled to create any notable chances. And it was Birmingham who were nearly provided with the opportunity to double their advantage when Cameron Jerome looked to have been caught by Johan Elmander inside the box.
However, Jerome's protests were waved away by referee, Kevin Friend, and from the resulting break the hosts then had their best chance to equalise through a Stuart Holden free-kick.
Birmingham goalkeeper, Ben Foster, was equal to the 20-yard strike, but only just. The former Manchester United keeper eventually tipped the ball over his crossbar to safety.
The hosts then almost fashioned the equaliser from a goalmouth scramble on the half hour mark. Martin Petrov, Gary Cahill, Kevin Davies and Zat Knight all had a bite at the cherry, but some last-ditch defending from the Blues proved enough.
It was the 35th minute when the match descended into chaos, though. An innocuous looking challenge by Johnson on Bolton keeper Jaaskelainen offered no indication of what was to happen next.
The Finnish keeper reacted badly to the goalscorer's challenge, and proceeded to slap the defender in the face. Kevin Friend was left with no choice but to dismiss the usually-reliable Bolton goalkeeper.
With 22-year-old debutant Adam Bogdan now on the field and Bolton a man down, Birmingham will fancy their chances of taking all three points this afternoon.
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