Birmingham City F.C. 1-3 WBA

match text commentary



roy hodgson's first victory in charge of the albion extended the baggies current unbeaten streak to four games. while this was the all important win the albion have been looking for this last month or so - and further contributes to the baggies keeping themselves just one step ahead of dropping into the relegation places - it emphasizes that the baggies are stuck with some tough fixtures ahead and didn't take nearly enough points in their last three home games. one thing is for sure: they're going to have to take three-to-four points from their next three home games; and with those being arsenal, liverpool and chelsea, the baggies are going to have to come up with some serious heroics. however, it's been that kind of year and the albion have generally played well against top-ten opposition.

there is something more confident and consistant about the albion since roy hodgson's arrival. even the the media pundits (like the BBC's, mark lawrenson, for example) who've never generally been too positive about the possibilities of an extended stay in the top-flight for the baggies - are now picking three or four other teams as more likely to face the drop this year. the general consensus - and the among the supporters as well - seems to be that this albion team will find a way to survive.

by the same token, it is generally agreed that wigan athletic are the only side that really look like they are indeed going down from amongst the other relegation battlers . the question is: who is going down with them? at the moment, the albion seem to have a firm grip on 16th-17th spot(s). it's quite likely that blackburn, aston villa and blackpool - along with the baggies, blues, wolves and west ham - will be fighting their way out of ending up in one of the other two relegation places come the final day of the season.



this was the baggies first "double" of the season, after having beaten blues by the same score back at the hawthorns in the middle of september.

to be fair, it was going to be a difficult day for a city team which had just won the LEAGUE CUP against the arsenal, in what must have been an absolute drain both physically and emotionally. while the score was nil-nil at the half, the baggies had looked the better of the two teams with the blues supplying little in the way of match highlights. the baggies have generally done well following scoreless first periods and by the time they had kicked-off for the second-half, they were tuned up and ready to play some dominating football.

the baggies went ahead on a goal by youssouf mulumbu scored within two minutes of the restart. the congolese midfielder played a pass to peter odemwingie, who had taken up a central position on the edge of the city penalty area. the nigerian international held the ball up long enough for mulumbu to get forward into the area, and taking the return ball on an overlapping run, finished superbly to give the albion a deserved lead. the next few days will tell, but it might have been a costly goal indeed, as mulumbu was simultaneously clattered by birmingham centre-half, liam ridgewell, and appeared to have taken a hard knock on the thigh.



however, and in typical fashion, blues pulled one back less than a minute later. lee bowyer, making a run down the right flank, gambled on a short-cross to the near post. birmingham city striker and chilean international, jean beausejour had gotten in behind the baggies' defenders and glanced the ball into the net past scott carson. while it is not uncommon to switch off for a moment following a goal celebration, beausejour's goal just reminded us again that the baggies still have moments of vulnrability at the back and seem committed to doing it the hard way.

however, besides reviving the squad through bringing unused and forgotten players back into the team and tightening up the shape of the back four, roy hodgson has instilled a bit of steel and confidence throughout the entire squad, and they took the lead again on 57 minutes through a typical james morrison goal. the albion midfielder took control of a cross from the right wing at the top of blues penalty area and taking a single touch to give himself room for the shot, blasted a perfectly placed strike past blues goalie, ben foster. he certainly doesn't score tap-ins and morrison has scored several similar goals this season, including west brom's first against manchester united at the hawthorns.

from here, the baggies never looked back.

while david bentley got the opportunity of two good long-range strikes, scott carson had them both covered, and it was only on a near miss by cameron jerome, which trickled just wide of the baggies' goal that blues ever looked dangerous coming forward. even kevin phillips coming off the bench as substitute could find nothing against his former club.

the baggies clinched the full three-points - and the first victory since their home fixture with blackpool - keeping, as they have been, just ahead of the drop-zone; and sending the newly crowned LEAGUE CUP champions into the bottom three ahead of only wigan, at this point.

paul scharner effectively finished the match off in the 71st minute as he sent a james morrison cross back across the face goal at the far-post sneaking the ball past blues goalie, ben foster, from an acute angle. the final score accurately reflected the trajectory of the game and the baggies fully deserved the win.



with an unfortunatley scheduled international break in three weeks time, and the possibility of their next league fixture falling prey to postponement pending the outcome of the upcoming FA CUP games, the baggies might not play again until april 2nd. we can only hope that manchester united puts arsenal out of the competition and the gunners will be at the hawthorns - as scheduled - in two weeks time. this will not only see the albion trying to extend their current unbeaten run, but will also give the baggies a timely opportunity at posting their second double of the season, having beaten the gunners at the emirates back in the late days of september.

as i said, west brom may have to secure their place in next season's PREMIER LEAGUE by doing it the hard way and taking points from the most difficult of their fixtures. however, and with roy hodgson now beginning to exert his influence on the team, they are exhuding a feeling of confidence and are playing like a side that is setting itself out for top-flight survival. i think they might just be capable of pulling it off.