Birmingham City 2-2 Newcastle United |
|
Date:
Sunday 3rd October 2004
Kick Off: 3.00pm BST
Venue: St. Andrews
Att: 29,021
Ref: Howard Webb (Rotherham)
Comp: Premiership |
| Premiership
Match Report In Association With Toon
Ale |
|
Newcastle 'United'
Under Souness
By
Craig Hope
Despite a definite lack of quality throughout the game, the £38's
worth of admission fee was worth every penny if only for the dogged
contest that the match ultimately became. For either side to have
lost on Sunday afternoon would have been unfair. Fans of both teams
can argue that they had chances to win, and indeed they would be correct,
but in the end a 2-2 proved to be a fair result.
It was Nicky Butt with his first goal for Newcastle who earned the
point with a spectacular 67th minute equaliser after first Dwight
Yorke had responded to Jenas' opener and then Matthew Upson headed
home from a free-kick. A dull, wet Midlands afternoon had done little
to dampen the Toon Army's spirits and the pre-match atmosphere inside
the ground was fantastic. Within three minutes of the start our unrivalled
support was rewarded when a Kluivert shot deflected into Jenas' path
who duly finished past a helpless Maik Taylor. Within ten minutes
Bellamy had threatened to add a second after a positive forward surge
but was unable to deliver a telling final ball.
Heskey was replaced by Yorke after a heavy fall and within fifteen
minutes of his introduction the former Blackburn striker had exacted
the much publicised revenge on his former boss. Dunn broke from midfield
and played what was by no means a difficult ball into Yorke's path
after O'Brien had quite deliberately chosen not to follow Yorke when
level with him, instead deciding to appeal for offside. Elliot was
caught square for the through ball and himself seemed too indecisive
in electing whether to go to Dunn or follow Yorke's run. O'Brien made
up the enough yards, after his hopeful appeal was ignored, to deflect
Yorke's shot past Given and level the score.
To concede such an easy goal is frustrating. Yorke simply ran through
the middle of our centre backs, from this point Elliot's performance
in particular suffered severely.
Kluivert saw a header saved by Taylor not long later and subsequently
disappeared from the game. I can count four games now where the Dutchman
has felt the back of his leg and looked towards the bench – remember
his sharp pull up away to Villa where it looked as though he'd be
out for weeks? I said it before the game, I expect Kluivert every
game now to at least feel his hamstring or suffer some sort of twinge.
Why? A genuine problem? A general lack of fitness? Or does he just
not fancy certain situations? I don't have the answer and believe
it certainly isn't my final suggestion but it is a definite cause
for concern.
The game was becoming a battle and certainly heated up in the second
period. Kluivert departed at the interval to be replaced by Milner
with Souness electing to play the youngster down the left and put
Bellamy up front. A decision that was surely based around the physical
element of the encounter – yet more evidence you feel that Souness
doesn't fancy Robert away from home when we aren't chasing a game.
Dunn shot low at Given three minutes before Birmingham's second of
the afternoon. A Savage free kick was headed home by Matthew Upson
after Nicky Butt had failed to challenge effectively. I've heard it
said that Given was helpless for the goal – I feel full responsibility
has to lie with our Irish stopper. Every time on Sunday that Birmingham
delivered a ball around the goal area there was a quite apparent uncertainty
between our defenders and goalkeeper.
Given has no real presence in situations that require a goalkeeper
to come and command his territory. Watch the replay – Upson scores
from an area that goalkeepers should dominate – when the ball goes
in Given is almost stood behind his line. Harsh? Maybe, I feel however
that Given's shot stopping abilities sometimes camouflage what is
a quite uncertain and far from commanding goalkeeper.
Now we were chasing the game. And so it was that Souness introduced
Robert and moved to three at the back with Bowyer moving into a more
advanced position. Robert then shot wide on 65 after good work from
Bowyer. It seemed an age between Upson's goal and our equaliser. It
was in fact only ten minutes. O'Brien floated over a cross that was
not cleared effectively by the Birmingham defence and fell to Nicky
Butt who rearranged his body to score one of those goals that sends
supporters crazy – a goal you were praying would come whilst at the
same time was a quite outstanding strike.
The celebrations ensued and the unity our team's delight was extremely
heartening.
Savage then shot just wide before a Bellamy header was almost forced
across the line by Shearer but Clapham cleared just in time. With
fifteen minutes remaining Bellamy went down after nipping in front
of Cunningham but was denied a penalty. It was one of those that by
rights should have been a penalty but is always difficult for referees
to award given the fact that Bellamy was never actually in possession
of the ball.
Having criticised Given earlier, it was undeniably he who saved us
with ten minutes remaining. David Dunn, another player with a score
to settle with our new boss, had the perfect opportunity to sicken
Souness with a late header but Given somehow pushed the ball clear
much to our relief.
With two minutes left on the clock Robert lined up a 40 yard free-kick. The
strike appeared to elude everyone and had certainly beaten Maik Taylor. The
ball however failed to elude the all important post and bounced clear. Souness
surely would have been hailed a tactical genius had that effort crept
inside the woodwork.
A 2-2 draw it remained with an elevation to sixth in the table our
reward. The game was physical yet highly entertaining. Ironic it was
that the three best players on the park, namely Butt, Savage and Dunn
all received yellow cards. Savage, love him or hate him (and the majority
do hate him), was outstanding for Birmingham. Combined with his constant
running, talking and determination were great deliveries from set
pieces and accurate and effective passing.
Dunn has an excellent way of using his body to protect the ball and
throughout the game beat our men and created openings for the Blues. Bowyer
in particular struggled to make his mark on the midfield battle. Butt,
despite some wayward passing, was our best player. He continues to
make a difference to our midfield with his tackling, will to win and
work rate.
At the back we conceded two goals and looked poor both with and without
possession. It was alarming how much football we tried to play deep
in our own half with the eventual outcome being either lost possession
or an O'Brien 'clip' in Shearer's direction that ultimately also resulted
in the surrendering of the ball.
The performance was by no means vintage in any technical capacity
but our tenacity and determination were first class given our midweek
exploits. Souness has installed an attitude that was missing away
from home last season and we've already picked up four points on our
travels. Last season when many of our more technically able players
failed to make an impact on a game they went missing from the encounter
completely – now they work harder and as a result we have a steelier
appearance.
A point won on Sunday you have to feel as we matched Birmingham with
every ounce of effort and commitment that they threw at us. The game
was concerning in that our defence was suspect for both goals and
for a few other opportunities that could quite easily have gone in. More
positives can be taken from the game however. Souness' tactical changes
were both daring and astute. Most importantly though the fighting
spirit that was our eventual saviour is now becoming a permanent fixture
amongst a set of players who at last appear to be 'United'.
Toon Player Ratings Vs Birmingham
Next up: Charlton
Vs NUFC (Sunday October 17th 2004 Prem 4.05pm K.O)
| Birmingham |
Newcastle
United |
Match
Facts & Stats
Half-Time: 1-1
Full-Time: 2-2
Yellow Cards: 5
Red Cards: 0
Goalscorers: Yorke (23), Upson (57)
Yellow Cards: Dunn (53), Clemence (59), Savage (90)
Red Cards: 0
Substitutions: 3
Yorke (for Heskey 9), Clemence (for Izzet 36), Gray
(for D Dunn 83)
Injuries: Heskey & Izzet
Goalscorers: Jenas
(3), Butt (67)
Yellow Cards: Elliott (48), Butt (73)
Red Cards: 0
Substitutions: 3
Milner (for Kluivert 45), Robert (for Bernard 64), Hughes (for
Bowyer 81)
Injuries: Kluivert (hamstring) |
| Taylor |
Given |
| Melchiot |
Carr |
| Upson |
O'Brien |
| Cunningham |
Elliott |
| Clapham |
Bernard |
| Johnson |
Jenas |
| Savage |
Butt |
| Izzet |
Bowyer |
| Gronkjaer |
Bellamy |
| Dunn |
Shearer |
| Heskey |
Kluivert |
| Substitutes
Bench |
| Bennet |
Harper |
|
Clemence |
Hughes |
| Gray |
Ambrose |
|
Yorke |
Milner |
| Morrison |
Robert |
| Possession, Shots, Corners,
Fouls & Saves |
| Birmingham |
The
Game |
Newcastle |
| 50% |
Possession |
50% |
| 6 |
Shots
(on target) |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots (off target) |
3 |
| 6 |
Corners |
5 |
| 17 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 2 |
Saves |
4 |
Graeme Souness' 100% winning run comes to an end. A first goal of
the Season for Jermaine Jenas and a first ever goal in Black &
White for Nicky Butt. A 6th League game in which we have opened the
scoring - only Arsenal can better that record. A 6th League game in
which we have had our lead pegged back - no team can better this unwanted
record. Unbeaten at St. Andrews in six League games now. Both Olivier
Bernard and Craig Bellamy made their 100th start for Newcastle where
as Andy O'Brien made his 100th Premiership start for the Toon and
Robbie Elliott his 200th career appearance. Alan Shearer made his
700th career appearance. Aaron Hughes on as a substitute, made it
250 appearances in the Black & White.
| How The Goals Were
Scored |
NUFC Goal 3 Minutes: Jermaine Jenas
The ball broke to Patrick Kluivert just outside the Birmingham box
where the Dutchman lashed in a left-footed shot that deflected through
to Jermaine Jenas 3 yards out who slotted home for his first Toon
goal of the season.
Birmingham Goal 23 Minutes: Dwight Yorke
David Dunn's ball over the top saw Andy O'Brien attempt to play Dwight
Yorke off-side, failing spectacular to leave the former Blackburn
man free to run at goal where he was faced one on one with Shay Given.
His shot took a slight deflection off O'Brien which took it through
Shay's legs and into the back of the net for a sloppy goal.
Birmingham Goal 57 Minutes: Matthew Upson
Robbie Savage's left wing free kick from just outside our box on the
angle was met by the head of Matthew Upson who rose above everyone
else to power home form 5 yards. Once again the marking was poor.
NUFC Goal 67 Minutes: Nicky Butt
The ball bounced inside Birmingham's box enough for Nicky Butt to
acrobatically smash home a scissor kick shot from 15 yards for his
first ever Toon goal. Brilliant strike from the England midfielder.
| Match Reaction From
Graeme Souness |
Souness said:
"We could have gone home with the three points if the referee
had given the penalty. On another day we'd get that.
"I asked the referee at the end why he didn't see. He said he
was 70 yards away. I said to him 'but the linesman wasn't'.
"But we're happy with a point because there's no way that we
could be at our best coming here after the travelling we've had and
the game we played in the UEFA Cup.
"Anyone with a semblance of intelligence would have worked that
out. The game was quite physical on Thursday and then we had five
and a half hours on the plane the next day.
"We showed a lot of determination and we dug in when the going
got tough. It was a very open game. We went 2-1 down and then chased
the game and it became very open.
"We got it back to 2-2 and then tried to close up shop. Make
no mistake, St. Andrews is a difficult place to come and get a result.
"Birmingham have been struggling. They are desperate for points
and have made a big commitment this year in terms of what they have
spent on players.
"It is hard place to get a result and overall we would take the
draw."
| Match Reaction From
Steve Bruce |
Bruce said:
"We are a bit disappointed. We thought it was a foul for their
second goal. We thought there was a push on Upson.
"But overall, after going 1-0 down after three minutes and having
the injuries, we are reasonably okay and it was a fair result.
"It was great stuff for the fans, end-to-end, with plenty of
action, although not great stuff for managers!"
| Your Shout: Toon
Army Match Reaction |
Gallowgate X113 wrote:
Well that was a result that we would have taken before the kick off.
When Butt scored though I thought we would go on to win it. The lads
are looking better than they have done for a long time. From what
I could gather on the radio we were knocking the ball about well and
were it not for the usual defensive problems we would have come away
with 3 points. Good to see Nicky Butt get his first goal and Jenas
get on the score sheet - first time in a while. Well done lads.
Billy t fish wrote:
Just sobered up from coming back from the game. Not a great performance
but plenty of effort and fire. A big improvement from last year's
insipid performance. A fair result in the end, though we were denied
a clear penalty. Given was superb - 2 superbly athletic saves. Defensively
we were exposed a bit. O'Brien was poor and too easily turned and
the same can be said for Elliott but he made some crunching and vital
tackles. Carr battled away but struggled to get forward while on the
other side Bernard gave another disinterested anemic display. Jenas
continued his recent improvement - involved at both ends and Butt
and Bowyer were solid. However Bowyer was less threatening than usual.
Bellamy buzzed around but had little effect. Shearer worked his naads
off as per and Kluivert showed some lovely touches but we need to
work on how these 3 can be best combined. Subs: Milner worked hard
but his end product was not great. Robert provided some spark and
was desperately unlucky not to score from a long range free kick but
did leave us defensively exposed and Hughes was only on briefly but
shored up the left hand side - making some good tackles (is it my
imagination or is he sticking his foot in more under GS?). |
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