Source: Telegraph
Birmingham City 0 Manchester City 0: match report
Mark Hughes has Shay Given to thank for ensuring that his 46th birthday was not ruined by defeat to Birmingham City, and this will definitely not be a day for the Manchester City manager to remember. His side were held to their fourth league draw in a row, and were only saved the embarrassment of loss by Given, and Given alone, when the goalkeeper saved James McFadden's penalty after Nigel de Jong handledin the area. [LNB]Hughes had hit out at criticism of his side's defensive capabilities, but he should be asking some pretty searching questions of his defence after this. His back four had gone seven games without a clean sheet before this fixture, and without the acrobatic Given it would have been eight. There are plenty of theories doing the rounds â€' Lescott suggests it is because they are still getting to grips with each other - but the excuses are wearing thin. [LNB]The problem has been exacerbated for these pretenders by the fact that even though Birmingham currently possess the league's most ineffective strike force, having scored even fewer goals than Portsmouth, they were given plenty of opportunities. Warming themselves against the wind which was swirling round a Siberian St Andrews, Birmingham took the game to their opponents with open, attractive football, not something usually associated with Alex McLeish's side. [LNB]Under the watchful gaze of Ricky Hatton, City had clearly thought they were about to use Birmingham as a punchbag, but it was Ferguson, James McFadden, Lee Bowyer and Seb Larsson dictating events in the middle of the field. Larsson is a wild card if ever there was, but the Swede was on form for this one, and he found Christian Benitez with a wonderful volley from the right sideline amid a frenetic opening five minutes. [LNB]Benitez is the smallest striker in the league, but the man nicknamed ‘Chucho', or ‘annoying little dog', shimmied towards the area, and let loose a left-footed shot which deflected off Vincent Kompany, beat Given, but hit the post. Kompany was robbed of the ball soon after, and Benitez was away, Lescott scrambling to catch up. But Given came out, charging down Benitez's dinky chip. [LNB]Cometh the hour mark, cometh the keeper, again. As City's defence scrambled to clear after a promising Birmingham attack, Larsson and De Jong went up together for a high ball. The City defender used his arms for propulsion, always a dangerous thing to do in the area, and a flailing arm struck the ball. Mike Dean had no hesitation in pronouncing the penalty. McFadden tried to place it to Given's left, but the goalkeeper was there. [LNB]
