Premier League match report: Birmingham City 1-1 vs. Aston Villa (Part 1)
Birmingham City were held to a thrilling draw at St James’ Park, with Aston Villa finding the equalizer just 17 minutes from the final whistle. It was Roger Johnson’s early second half goal that gave the hosts the lead they managed
to keep till the 73rd minute.
It was James Collins’ impressive volley with only a quarter of the game remaining that gave Villa a lifeline, on a day where most teams experienced draws. The draw was perhaps the least favourite result for both fans and managers,
who aimed for no less than a win against their rivals. Both sides are still battling relegation this season but both bosses have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future. Both sides showed a lot of passion, zeal and vigour in the encounter, which
is always a good thing.
The match marked David Bentley’s first appearance for Birmingham City since his loan move from Tottenham Hotspur and he made an immediate impact on the game. The player enjoyed a lot of touches on the right flank and managed to
deliver a lot of corners and long balls. Alex McLeish looks to have signed a true gem in the form of Bentley and it seems this signing may see them retain their premier status after all.
Bentley’s inclusion led to Birmingham dropping off http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sebastian-Larsson-c32733 altogether and the player was not even included in the bench line-up. There is an interesting history of goalkeeper howlers in the fixture, the most famous one
by Villa’s Peter Enckelman in 2002. Something similar almost took place for one Ben Foster, that too as early as 30 seconds into the game. The player was lazy to collect a back pass and was almost caught by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stewart-Downing-c34221. Foster then managed a poor clearance,
which landed into the feet of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-Agbonlahor-c14288. The English International, however, missed the chance to be in front and shot the ball well over the bar.
Villa turned up the pressure when Stewart Downing managed a shot wide at goal from the edge of the box, followed by Craig Gardner’s volley shot over on the other end of the pitch. The first booking came for Villa captain Richard
Dunne, who managed a very rash tackle on Bentley and got into the books of Mark Clattenburg.
Both teams kept on coming in numbers, with Johnson finding http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Carew-c18841, who hit the woodwork with a lobbed header. All this had happened under 10 minutes, which meant that the fans were in for a real delight.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cameron-Jerome-c8284 was not available for this fixture owing to an injury and was replaced to by Matt Derbyshire. The player missed a very good opportunity for City on 21 minutes, when he got a cross from Gardner, who won the ball in
the midfield. The striker was presented with a goal on the plate but couldn’t make contact and the ball rolled out of play. Villa then hit the framework for the second time, when a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ben-Foster-c7445 and on the top of the bar.
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