Fabulous Foster Denies Chelsea (Sky Sports)
Birmingham City 1 Chelsea 0
Birmingham
City held on for a remarkable 1-0 win over champions Chelsea in the Premier
League, following a heroic display from goalkeeper Ben Foster and the entire
defence.
Still smarting from their humbling at home to Sunderland last weekend, the
Londoners travelled to the Midlands looking to right the wrongs of their
previous outing, but time and time again they were thwarted by Foster.
Lee Bowyer scored the only goal of the game in the 17th minute - latching on
to a Cameron Jerome knock-down and finishing coolly past Petr Cech with his
left foot.
It proved to be their last shot on target as in a scene akin to the Alamo,
Birmingham set their stall out to defend their goal as if their lives
depended on it.
Didier Drogba hit the crossbar with a header in the first half, but it was
epic stuff from Roger Johnson, Scott Dann and in particular Foster, that
condemned Chelsea to three league defeats in four games.
Chelsea were quickly into their stride and Salomon Kalou missed an early
chance to put them ahead.
First miss
Drogba's flick found Kalou with only Foster to beat but his shot went
through the legs of the keeper and just past the post.
Foster made a fine save to keep Birmingham on level terms after Drogba was
sent clear by Kalou.
It was the kind of chance Drogba would normally convert but Foster raced off
his line to reduce the angle and saved low to his left.
Chelsea had quickly established a grip of the game and were taking advantage
of having an extra midfield player.
But Birmingham stunned Chelsea by taking the lead via their first worthwhile
attack after 17 minutes.
Sebastian Larsson's right-wing cross was headed down by Jerome to Bowyer who
was completely unmarked and lashed the ball past Cech for his first goal of
the season.
Chelsea tried to retaliate and Foster went down to his right to hold onto
Drogba's effort from the right of the box.
He then made a superb reflex save to keep out Drogba's close-range header
from Nicolas Anelka's centre.
Chelsea continued to dominate and Foster again did well to beat out an
Ashley Cole shot after he had seized onto a pass from Kalou.
Chelsea were carving chances almost at will and Alex had a free header from
Florent Malouda's corner but directed it past the post.
Drogba tried his luck with a low 30-yard free-kick and Foster was again
alert to turn it around the post.
But he was helpless after 38 minutes when Drogba crashed a header against
the crossbar from Malouda's cross.
Ramires was first to react to the rebound but from eight yards out slashed
his shot wide.
Chelsea continued in the same manner after the break although there were
less clear-cut openings.
Great challenge
Johnson produced a superb tackle to stop Ramires after his run into the box
and needed treatment to his knee before being able to continue.
Kalou had Chelsea's best chance to date of the second period when turning
back inside but he curled his shot over the bar with Foster off his line.
Carlo Ancelotti brought on Jose Bosingwa in place of Paulo Ferreira after 65
minutes.
The chances started to come again for the visitors with Foster holding onto
a Drogba free-kick and Kalou heading wide from Anelka's cross.
Scott Dann's backpass played in Kalou but Foster took the ball away from his
feet with a perfectly timed challenge.
Foster parried aside a Branislav Ivanovic header as the pressure again
became relentless.
Liam Ridgewell was yellow carded for bringing down Bosingwa but Chelsea
could not find a way through.
Birmingham City
|
Team Statistics
|
Chelsea
|
1
|
Goals
|
0
|
1
|
1st Half Goals
|
0
|
1
|
Shots on Target
|
9
|
1
|
Shots off Target
|
15
|
1
|
Blocked Shots
|
8
|
4
|
Corners
|
16
|
10
|
Fouls
|
3
|
0
|
Offsides
|
0
|
2
|
Yellow Cards
|
0
|
0
|
Red Cards
|
0
|
69.9
|
Passing Success
|
81.3
|
10
|
Tackles
|
10
|
70
|
Tackles Success
|
70
|
37.8
|
Possession
|
62.2
|
40.9
|
Territorial Advantage
|
59.1
|
Teams
Birmingham City Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larson,
Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, Jerome, Zigic (Hleb 72)
Subs Not Used Doyle, Beausejour, Jiranek, Michel, Derbyshire,
Phillips
Booked Ridgewell, Fahey
Goals Bowyer 17
Chelsea Cech, Ferreira (Bosingwa 65), Ivanovic, Alex, Cole, Ramires
(Sturridge 72), Mikel, Malouda, Kalou, Drogba, Anelka
Subs Not Used Turnbull, Bruma, Van Aanholt, McEachran, Kakuta
Booked
Goals
Attendance 24,357
Referee M. Halsey