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  • Date:2007-09-15
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:St Andrews Stadium
  • Attendance:28124
  • Referee:Dowd, P

Live Commentary

90mins

And there is the final whistle. Birmingham take home the three points thanks to Olivier Kapo's goal but Bolton still look to be struggling. Final score Birmingham City 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers.

90mins

Gary McSheffrey is off to be replaced by Rafael Schmitz and waste some valuable seconds.

90mins

The three minutes of stoppage time have been played but the final whistle still has not gone.

90mins

O'Connor almost has a chance to finish things off immediately as he races in behind the defence but the flag is up.

90mins

Cameron Jerome has run himself into the ground and will be replaced for the final moments by Garry O'Connor.

88mins

Bolton never give up a game before the final whistle and they have a free-kick in a dangerous position after Speed is fouled by Nafti.

86mins

A change for Birmingham as the highly impressive Fabrice Muamba is replaced by Spanish midfielder Borja Oubina.

83mins

Olivier Kapo tries to feed McSheffrey in behind the defence but it just catches the winger on the heels but that was close.

80mins

And again Bolton clear off the line. This time Djorou is the unlucky one as he headed Larsson's corner goalwards.

79mins

Larsson has been superb today and he causes more problems with a cross in that Kapo almost diverts in.

76mins

A strange substitution from Sammy Lee as Gerald Cid replaces O'Brien when surely Kevin Davies would have been a more attacking option, after all they need an equaliser.

75mins

Larsson is so close to doubling their lead as his free-kick hits the underside of the bar and it is cleared off the line.

74mins

O'Brien was the culprit and he has been booked for the challenge.

74mins

Jerome breaks past the defenders brilliantly an then is brought down right on the edge of the area and it is a free-kick.

72mins

In fact Samuel is having to leave on a stretcher, which is a shame, and Ricardo Gardner will come on.

71mins

Jlloyd Samuel has gone down with what appears to be a hamstring injury in a worryingly similar style to Jason Robinson in last night's rugby.

70mins

Maik Taylor is having to deal with a few efforts from range at the moment but he is not dropping a thing.

69mins

Diouf is looking very dangerous at times but his occasional antics are not endearing him to the home fans.

66mins

Superb defending from Stephen Kelly as he slides in to stop Braaten surely equalising after superb work by Diouf.

65mins

Jerome may not be getting too much of the ball but he is being a handful for the Bolton back four and this time he forces O'Brien to head what was a lost cause out for a corner.

62mins

From the corner Ridgewell again rises and once more he is unfortunate to see his flick header fly just over the bar.

61mins

Jerome turns Meite well and runs towards the area and now looks for Larsson who shifts it away from Samuel once again and fires it in right footed and Jaaskelainen makes another save.

59mins

The game is starting to get edgy and a bit scrappy with lots of niggly fouls and offences that are stopping the flow.

56mins

Medhi Nafti robs Speed in the midfield and the Welshman the swings out at him with a leg and brings him down to get a yellow card.

55mins

Diouf is causing his usual problems for defenders, this time Ridgewell and he brings him down and the Birmingham man is booked for the tackle.

54mins

Mikel Alonso has struggled today to get with the pace of play and he will be replaced by Daniel Braaten who will add some pace on the wing.

52mins

Bolton look as shaky at the back as they did in the first period and Birmingham will be looking to strike while their opponents are struggling.

49mins

Jaaskelainen makes a massive error and gives it straight to Jerome who fails to control first time and then lashes it wide, but that was a real chance.

48mins

Bolton have in fact changed their tactics, now playing a 4-4-2 with Speed on the left while Diouf and Anelka are joined up front.

46mins

Larsson and Kapo combine again and this time Larsson is the recipient and his shot is closed down just in time by Samuel.

45mins

The second half is underway and there are no changes at the break, so it will be interesting to see if Bolton change their tactics at some point.

45mins

Birmingham will be delighted wit their first half display and they thoroughly deserve their lead but Bolton have looked dangerous at times, particularly on the break through Diouf and Anelka.

45mins

Larsson drives a corner in and Queudrue arrives back post but can't keep the header down.

45mins

The fourth official has indicated a minimum of two minutes added time.

43mins

Birmingham will be happy if they can take this lead into the break as they have been the better of the two sides so far.

40mins

Ridgewell is caught in possession by Diouf but the Senegalese is unlucky as the ball runs away from him and Kelly forces him to go back to Nolan on halfway.

37mins

BIRMINGHAM 1 - 0 Bolton: Larsson gives Samuel more problems and this time gets a great cross in that KAPO tucks beyond the despairing Jaaskelainen to give Birmingham a deserved lead.

36mins

Gary McSheffrey curls in a free-kick and only just clears the cross bar as it lands on top of the net and Jaaskelainen was scrambling.

34mins

Kevin Nolan scythes down Seb Larsson - who has drifted out of it a bit now - and receives a booking for his troubles.

31mins

Muamba was compared to Patrick Vieira when he was in Arsenal's youth setup and he shows why by using his long legs to disposses Nolan in the centre circle.

29mins

Bolton are slowly edging their way into this game and Diouf and Anelka are beginning to see the ball with room to work in, which is very dangerous for the home side.

26mins

Andy O'Brien wastes a superb chance as he puts his free header over the bar from 7 yards out.

24mins

Maik Taylor is forced into a brillaint save in his top corner to deny Anelka who tried to curl into beyond the keeper.

22mins

Birmingham look lively and really want this at the moment, they are enjoying good spells when they get the ball wide which is rare against Bolton normally.

19mins

McSheffrey whips in a dangerous free-kick from the left hand side and Ridgewell rises but it just evades the former Villa defender.

18mins

For the first time in the game Diouf gets a chance to run and blasts past Kelly and only a poor final ball lets him down.

17mins

Bolton look a little slow and Anelka has barely had a kick in the opening stages but Birmingham need to take advantage of their relative dominance.

14mins

Larsson looks in good form as he whips in a dangerous free-kick the Muamba gets a flick to and Jaaskelainen makes a great save to stop it finding the bottom corner.

11mins

Diouf is unpopular at St. Andrews - as he is at most places in the country - and his corner is not the best but Kapo is tackled as he is eased out of it by Nolan who fires just wide from the edge of the box.

9mins

Larsson with a magnificent piece of skill to go round Samuel and gets into the area, where he goes down and it could have been penalty but Dowd waves away the appeals.

7mins

Bolton are looking a little rushed at times by a bisy Birmingham midfield, in particular Nafti, who is not letting anyone to have time on the ball.

4mins

Good start from the Blues as Muamba spreads it wide for Seb Larsson who tucks inside the defender onto his left foot and Jasskelainen is forced to make the save.

3mins

Cameron Jerome - King of the early goals - almost adds to his tally by ghosting past Meite and firing a left foot shot across goal and it only just rusn wide.

2mins

It can be seen early on that Steve Bruce is looking to get men around Nicolas Anelka and El Hadji Diouf before they can cause any serious damage.

0mins

Phil Dowd is the man in black in the second city this afternoon and he gets proceedings underway with the Blues fans roaring to drive their team on to a win.

0mins

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Meite, Andrew O'Brien, Samuel, Nolan, Speed, Alonso, McCann, Diouf, Anelka

0mins

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Kelly, Djourou, Ridgewell, Queudrue, Larsson, Muamba, Nafti, McSheffrey, Kapo, Jerome

0mins

Sammy Lee meanwhile makes just the one change as Gerald Cid drops to bench to be replaced by Andy O'Brien at the heart of the back four.

0mins

Steve Bruce makes three changes from the side defeated at the Riverside last time out as Medhi Nafti, Franck Queudrue and Gary McSheffrey replace Radhi Jaidi, Stuart Parnaby and Mikael Forssell.

0mins

Birmingham City host Bolton Wanderers at St. Andrews with both sides looking for much needed early season points after less than impressive starts.

Match Preview

Birmingham City host Bolton Wanderers in a meeting of two sides who haven't enjoyed the best of starts to the new Premier League campaign.

Both the Blues and Wanderers have won only one of their five league games so far this season.

Birmingham were soundly beaten 2-0 by Middlesbrough on their last outing before the international break and have yet to keep a clean sheet since their return to the top-flight.

Manager Steve Bruce spent £7million bringing in 12 players during the summer, but it would appear his new-look side has yet to gel effectively.

Spanish international midfielder Borja Oubina and Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios also joined the club before last month's transfer deadline and could feature on Saturday should Bruce decide to make fresh changes.

At the back, Tunisian centre-half Radhi Jaidi will face his former team-mates for the first time since he left Bolton last summer to join the Blues in the Championship.

Bolton have taken just three points from a possible 15 this season under new manager Sammy Lee. Sam Allardyce's replacement in the Reebok Stadium hot-seat has not enjoyed the easiest of transitions from backroom to top-flight management.

Four defeats in their five opening games have led to suggestions that Lee is not the right man for the job, and anything other than a victory against a newly-promoted team will see the pressure mount on the former Liverpool and England coach.

Bolton will be without summer signing Heidar Helguson for the trip to St Andrew's after the Iceland striker suffered an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for two months.

However, Ricardo Gardner and Joey O'Brien are both back in contention after playing for the club's reserves during the international break. Stelios Giannakopoulos is also available after overcoming a groin injury suffered on the eve of the new season.


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Match Report

Olivier Kapo has taken a long time to settle since his summer arrival from Juventus, but he proved Birmingham's vital matchwinner in a real basement battle at St Andrew's.

It was only Birmingham's second win of the season, but it was well merited on the day as Bolton again struggled to make any real impact.

Following the disappointing 2-0 defeat in their previous game at Middlesbrough this was a major improvement and must have pleased manager Steve Bruce.

Seb Larsson had an outstanding game and was often a thorn in the side of Bolton, who suffered a second-half setback when Jlloyd Samuel had to be stretchered off with a leg injury, following an innocent looking tackle.

Bolton, with only one win in their opening six games, were often disjointed. El-Hadji Diouf was prominent as was Nicolas Anelka when they laid siege to Birmingham in the closing stages as they strived unsuccessfully to force an equaliser.

But Bolton's problems had been evident even in the first half when they found themselves under increasing pressure from Birmingham's reorganised side.

Larsson, in particular, was a major problem and former Aston Villa defender, Samuel struggled to contain the former Arsenal wideman. Larsson deserved a goal and only the woodwork prevented him getting on the scoresheet in the second half.

Bolton could make little impression although Anelka forced Maik Taylor to make a smart near-post save to keep out the Bolton marksman. Newcomer Andy O'Brien, who was making his first appearance, then headed over from close range, as did skipper Kevin Nolan.

Nolan became the first player to be yellow carded when he hacked down Larsson and it was from this incident that Birmingham appeared to lift their game.

Larsson, who had to receive lengthy treatment following the Nolan tackle, appeared to raise his game and it was hardly a surprise that he created the opening from which Birmingham took a 37th minute lead.

Larsson's cross the far post found the lurking Kapo to nudge the ball home from close range despite a desperate attempt by Jussi Jaaskelainen to keep his goal intact.

This goal forced Bolton out of their defensive approach with Diouf often catching the eye with some astute work.

Birmingham, however, held firm with Johan Djourou emerging with an outstanding performance. The on-loan youngster from Arsenal demonstrated his obvious skills in a high-tension game which lifted Birmingham out of the doldrums.

Birmingham City

Bolton Wanderers

Corners

65

Fouls

1615

Goal attempts

108

Shots off target

45

Offsides

33

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