Birmingham 2 West Ham 2
West Ham started with Upson back in defence and Behrami in for the injured Noble.
The first half saw a pretty good all round display from West Ham. At the back West Ham restricted Birmingham to only two attempts in the first 45 minutes and at the other end the Irons managed to carve out a few clear cut goal scoring chances.
West Ham came closest to taking the lead when Cole was only denied by a brilliant save from Foster in goal. The opportunity came in the 18th minute when an Obinna cross was deflected goalwards by Cole. Foster got down really well to divert the ball onto the post.
Cole came close again in the 40th minute when he turned and shot in the box from 8 yards. Cole however was unable to get much power on the shot and Foster was just able to get down and save again from the West Ham striker.
West Ham had a number of other efforts on goal in the first half and after largely dominating the game would probably have been a little disappointed going into the break still on level terms.
West Ham took just two minutes to grab the lead in the second half. Boa Morte played a great ball forward from the half way line to Piquionne who fired a low shot into the back of the net from 12 yards.
In the 58th minute West Ham went two up when Parker played a ball forward to Cole wide left of the Birmingham penalty area. Cole then played a square ball just outside the area to Behrami who fired home from 12 yards. A couple of minutes after that Obinna worked his way into the box and fired a shot that Foster might just have got a touch on to deflect it onto the crossbar.
If that goal had gone in I think the game would have been all over but unfortunately for West Ham that seemed to wake Birmingham up. In a space of eleven minutes Birmingham attacked the West Ham area and with their first two shots on target in the game were back on level terms.
In the 64th minute Zigic rose in the area to knock the ball down to Jerome to fire in from 5 yards. In the 74th minute Green did well to save a Larsson 30 yard freekick but the ball fell to Ridgewell who scored from 4 yards.
After that the game really opened up and both sides created good chances. For Birmingham a Jerome shot from close range was just deflected against the post by Gabbidon. At the other end Behrami shot over from 10 yards and Piquionne headed over the same bar from 10 yards.
A pretty amazing second half saw four goals and, although West Ham could be seen to have thrown away a two goal lead, all-in-all it was a pretty good performance. It's a real shame the team didn't pick up the three points that the performance deserved.
It is beginning to look like it is going to be a battle between West Ham, Stoke, Wigan and Wolves at the bottom. Hopefully a few more performances like this and we can fight our way clear.
posted by Keir Clarke @ 3:51 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I agree that the performance,especially for the first hour, was very good. But given that Birmingham are likely to be in the relegation mix,this was 2 points dropped. You cannot squander a two goal lead against a side in the bottom 8,home or away. We continue to lack the mental strength to see matches out. Last week a loss ,when we should have gotten the point,and this week a draw when it shud have been 3. Birmingham created very little until their first goal. Yet again,as vs. Newcastle,as soon as we look to be getting on top,e take our foot off the gas. Grant has got to sort that out immediately.
An away point is good, and the overall performance was good,but we need more than that. We are fighting for our league survival and must be completing the task and getting all 3 points in situations like this. We cannot afford the luxury of good performances without maximum points anymore
For the 2nd week in a row we failed to see out the game. Birmingham were piss poor for 60 minutes and were there for the taking but it is beyond comprehension that we changed tactics after the 2nd goal. We have seen so many times that trying to soak up pressure does not work for us.
I feel Green was at fault for the 2nd goal, palming away the shot when he should have played safe and conceded the corner. He had got away with the same thing a few minutes earlier and ought to have learnt his lesson. Birmingham were clearly set up for Green to palm it straight back at them.
Obinna needs to knock this shoot on sight policy n the head, its not working.
Illunga, what the hell has happened to the player of a few seasons ago. I thought he was a weak point throughout the game.
Otherwise we played a really good game for 60 minutes & there's a lot of positives to take but we have to learn to see out the game.
The ref was a joke, lucky Brum girls know how to cheer us Hammers up! As written about here: http://dailyhooligan.blogspot.com/2010/11/birmingham-vs-west-ham-robbed-by-ref.html
We're as good as Dumbarton
Yep. I checked the league tables in England and Scotland and we have the same points total as the team at the bottom of Scottish League 2.
Good performances. Brave performances count for nothing without points.
Will the reported 'Sullivan shake-up' in January turn the tide? I hope so. Time the players stepped up (again!), donated their weekly wages to charity until they start winning and focus on points not pounds.
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