Birmingham City 1 Bolton Wanderers 2: match report

26 September 2009 17:04
Birmingham fans, who are just getting accustomed to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung’s imminent takeover of their club, watched aghast as another raider from the Far East, South Korean substitute Chung-Yong Lee, spoiled co-owner David Sullivan’s send-off with a late winner. Sullivan and managing director Karren Brady had designated the fixture as their farewell to Birmingham after 17 years. Brady was absent, filming for a new series of The Apprentice, but her boss, sitting close to England manager Fabio Capello, saw Alex McLeish’s side say goodbye to at least a point when Lee scored his first goal in English football with four minutes remaining. Sport on television Two minutes earlier, another substitute, Kevin Phillips, had cancelled out Tamir Cohen’s early header for Bolton with Birmingham’s first goal from open play at St Andrew’s in 354 minutes of Premier League action this season. But when Matthew Taylor’s free-kick came out off a post and bounced into the six-yard area, Lee turned in the rebound. The 21 year-old, for whom Gary Megson paid FC Seoul £2.2 million in the summer, had missed an opportunity to double Bolton's advantage, rolling the ball wide after rounding Joe Hart following Kevin Davies’s pass. When he then carelessly lost the ball in the build-up to Phillips’ riposte, it appeared it would be a day to remember for the wrong reasons. “Lee will learn from his mistakes,” said Megson. “He’s such a lovely lad that he apologised to the team for gifting them the equaliser. He also said, 'Thank you Taylor’ to Matty – he hasn’t got the first names down yet! But he had the composure not to strike the ball first time when it came to him.” The Bolton manager felt they deserved their second win in 13 Premier League games, adding that defender Gary Cahill can only have impressed Capello. “Gary knows now that if he keeps putting in the performances, Fabio is watching.” Cohen put the visitors ahead after Davies headed on a long throw by Sam Ricketts – the Israeli’s third goal of the campaign – only for Phillips to fire Birmingham level from 18 yards after exchanging passes with Christian Benítez. Lee guaranteed Bolton had the final word.

Source: Telegraph