English Premier League: Match Review: Aston Villa versus Birmingham City - Part 2
In the 76th minute the match, Reo Coker was brought down by Gardner from the Birmingham side, the English midfielder reacted to the foul by kicked out at the opposing player and as a result was shown the yellow
card by the referee Howard Webb. In the 79thminute Bannan tested Ben Foster in the Birmingham goal with a curling shot but the goalkeeper was up to the task as he acrobatically palmed the ball away and in doing so denied Villa a chance to open the
scoring.
In the 81st minute of the match, Villa made their second change of the match as Nigel Reo Coker was replaced by the Norwegian striker, John Carew. With Carew and Heskey upfront, Villa went with an all out approach
till the end of the match. In the 84thminute of the match, Clark almost gave Aston Villa the lead as he pounced on a flick on from John Carew; the young midfielder’s header just missed the goal by a few inches as Birmingham remained on level terms
with the Villains. It was a turning moment in the match as Clark got injured in the aftermath of the header due to his collision with the Birmingham goalkeeper, Ben Foster.
Nonetheless, it was a brave effort from the Englishman whose name rung around the stadium as a result of his heroics. In the 88th minute of the match, Villa broke forward in a counter attack. The ball fell to Ashley
Young and he tore Liam Ridgewell inside out before attempting a fine shot on goal. The winger’s drive only found the goalpost as Birmingham escaped again. The referee added on five minutes of added time at the end of the 90 regular minutes to cater for all
the injury and substitution breaks that were seen during the match.
In the 91st minute, Birmingham had a brilliant chance to snatch away the win as Zigic rose to connect with Sebastian Larsson’s free kick, the Serbian only managed to head the ball wide in the end as the score line
remained static at nil all. Zigic’s chance was the last one of the match after the 5 added minutes elapsed; the referee blew for full time.
In the end the match finished at Aston Villa 0 – 0 Birmingham City. Regardless of the lack of goals during the match, it was a feisty affair in general as both the teams gained a point each in the end.
Tags: