It has been called a match of two halves by some but in reality the first half was one where West Brom failed to take their chances and Birmingham took their one chance following some dreadful marking by the Baggies back line.
West Brom never got to grips with the game in the first half but still managed to fashion some decent chances that Odemwingie and Scharner should have done better with. Jerome’s goal was the only chance that Birmingham could muster in the first period and their lack of creativity and punch up front will surely be of concern to manager Mcleish.
The second half saw Graham Dorrans replace the hard working but ineffective Fortuné and the dynamic of the game was completely changed with the Baggies playing at a tempo that the Blues just could not cope with. Albion were soon level when Jerome Thomas, who had terrorised Carr all afternoon, drilled a cross into Birmingham’s six yard box that took a slight deflection to hit the back of Ben Foster’s net. Soon after a shocking piece of control from Lee Bowyer saw Odemwingie race onto the ball and round Foster before firing into the net from a tight angle. A couple of minutes later it was three with Jonas Olsson heading in unchallenged from close range. From then on it was a procession with the Baggies in complete control and the Blues offering little in an attacking sense, unless of course you count Bowyer’s reckless challenge on Tamas for which he was lucky to receive only a yellow card.
All in all a great afternoon for the navy blue and white but not a good one for the royal blues who seem rather one dimensional and toothless up front.
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