English Premier League: Blackpool vs Birmingham City 0-1 - Half Time Report
Score-line: 0-1
Venue: Bloomfield Road
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
Starting XI for Blackpool: Kingson, Eardley, Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey, Vaughan, Campbell, Adam, Phillips, Varney, Taylor-Fletcher
Subs: Rachubka, Southern, Ormerod, Baptiste, Euell, Sylvestre, Edwards
Starting XI for Birmingham City: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Hleb, Gardner, Ferguson, Fahey, Jerome, Derbyshire
Subs: Taylor, Larsson, Phillips, Zigic, Parnaby, Beausejour, Jiranek
In this all important Premier League fixture, the newly promoted Blackpool hosted a relegation threatened Birmingham City. With both sides looking for survival in the league this season, such a fixture was expected to be high paced and all action.
That was exactly the case as both sides chose to attack right from the first kick. Birmingham striker Jerome had a chance to find the opening goal as he found himself in a good position inside the six yard box. The player however lost his footing and gave
away the possession. This was followed by a great chance for the hosts as midfielder Adam managed a brilliant cross to Phillips but the striker ended with a rather dull header straight into the arms of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ben-Foster-c7445, who managed a simple finish.
As the half progressed, Birmingham looked slightly better off the two and got their reward when Alexander Hleb found the opening goal of the match. It was a terrible back pass from Blackpool left back Crainey who passed the ball right into Hleb’s feet and
the former Barcelona man managed a cool finish.
The goal sprung a new life into the hosts, who looked dangerous each time they had the ball from then on. On the other hand, the visitors started appearing weak and unconvincing in defence as they were threatened by Phillips in the 41st minute.
The striker, however, couldn’t make the most of the opportunity as the header was mallow and completely off target.
Blackpool would need to keep playing the same type of football to find the equalizer as it is evident that Birmingham are having a tough time defending. The side would also need to be more creative.
Meanwhile, Birmingham should be looking to add more to their lucky goal in the first half and should stay firm in defence if they are to get themselves out of the relegation zone.
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