• Date: Sat 01 September 2007
  • Venue: The Riverside Stadium
  • Ref: Styles, R
  • Attendance: 22,920
Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Wheater (12)

Downing (37)

2 - 0

Middlesbrough vs Birmingham City

Team Lineups

Middlesbrough

Mark Schwarzer
Andrew Taylor
Jonathan Woodgate
Luke Young, L
David Wheater
Julio Arca
Fabio Rochemback (Lee Cattermole, 82)
George Boateng
Stewart Downing
Ahmed Hossam Mido (Dong-Gook Lee, 87)
Jeremie Aliadiere (Sanli Tuncay, 84)

Birmingham City

Maik Taylor
Johan Djourou
Stuart Parnaby
Stephen Kelly
Radhi Jaidi
Liam Ridgewell
Olivier Kapo
Fabrice Muamba (Mehdi Nafti, 57)
Sebastian Larsson (Gary McSheffrey, 56)
Mikael Forssell (Garry O'Connor, 56)
Cameron Jerome


Live Text Commentary
Full time
 

First-half goals from David Wheater and Stewart Downing give Boro a comfortable win over Birmingham.

87
Substitution
 

Mido comes off for Dong-Gook Lee

84
Substitution
 

Aliadiere comes off to rapturous applause and is replaced by Tuncay Sanli

82

McSheffrey fires a shot just wide

82

It appears all over with less than 10 minutes left

81
Substitution
 

Rochemback is replaced by Lee Cattermole for Boro

79
Yellow Card
 

Kapo is the latest Birmingham player to be booked for a foul on Mido

77

Jerome is offside for Blues

73

Blues look beaten with just over 15 minutes left at The Riverside

70

Aliadiere has been excellent today and he goes close again to making it 3-0

68

Aliadiere's cross is fired wide by Luke Young

67

It's all Boro still with a third goal on the cards

66

Downing's effort is cleared off the line by Nafti as Boro continue to look to wrap things up

64

Rochemback's shot is blocked as Boro pile forward again

63
Yellow Card
 

Nafti is booked for a foul on Mido

60

Bruce was obviously unhappy with his side's display and decided to haul three off at once

58

Rochemback's corner is cleared well by O'Connor

56
Substitution
 

And Muamba comes off for Mehdi Nafti

56
Substitution
 

Mikael Forssell is also replaced by Garry O'Connor

56
Substitution
 

Steve Bruce has had enough and makes three changes Larsson is replaced by Gary McSheffrey

54

Aliadiere's effort is well saved by Taylor now

53

Rochemback's cross is headed wide by Arca - but he should have scored

51

Mido has been lively again, causing Blues all sorts of problems but he's caught offside

49
Yellow Card
 

Mido is the second player shown the yellow card

47

Radhi Jaidi brings down Mido early in the second half

Second half
 

The second 45 gets underway with Birmingham needing a quick goal to get back into it

Half time
 

Wheater and Downing on target as Boro are in charge at the break

43

Julio Arca gets frustrated and is late on Muamba

41

Bruce will need to give his side a major talking to at half time as Blues have, on the whole, been second best in the first half

39

Just as City had shown signs of coming back into it, Boro go further in front

37
Goal
 

Downing fires Boro further in front, latching onto George Boateng's downward header

35

Boro are still in front but the visitors are definitely in the game more now

33
Yellow Card
 

Fabrice Muamba is the first player of the afternoon to be booked

29

Birmingham are showing signs of improvement as another Jerome shot is straight at Schwarzer

28

Wheater hauls down Jerome but Larsson's free-kick comes to nothing

26

Larsson's cross is cleared well by Wheater

24

Jeremie Aliadiere's shot is well saved by Maik Taylor as Boro continue to look the more dangerous side

22

Johan Djourou tries an ambitious shot, but it's fairly comfortable for Mark Schwarzer

19

Steve Bruce will be hoping that goal will rejuvenate his side as they have been quiet so far

16

Blues hit on the counter-attack as a Cameron Jerome shot flies over the bar

14

The home side are really taking the game to Birmingham and they are on the lookout for a quick second goal

12

The goal has been coming for Boro, who have dominated so far

11
Goal
 

Boro take an early lead through David Wheater, who heads home Andrew Taylor's cross

7

Birmingham do venture forward and win a corner from which Larsson's delivery is met by the head of Liam Ridgewell, but it's wide

5

The home side have definitely made the better start here with Blues yet to muster a decent attack

3

Fabio Rochemback's corner finds its way to David Wheater but it flies over as Boro make the better start

2

Stewart Downing's cross evades everyone and drifts harmlessly out of play

Kickoff
 

The action gets underway at The Riverside

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Middlesbrough are unchanged from last week's derby draw against Newcastle, while for Birmingham, Sebastian Larsson replaces Gary McSheffrey up front