{"id":412388,"date":"2011-05-01T13:05:32","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T13:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/01\/birmingham-1-1-wolves\/"},"modified":"2011-05-01T13:05:32","modified_gmt":"2011-05-01T13:05:32","slug":"birmingham-1-1-wolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/01\/birmingham-1-1-wolves\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham 1-1 Wolves"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Steven<\/p>\n

Fletcher scored early in the contest but Wolves could not build on their lead<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Wolves missed the opportunity to climb out of the bottom three after they were held to a draw by 10-man Birmingham.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steven Fletcher put Wolves ahead with a penalty after Ben Foster fouled Stephen Ward early in the contest.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Larsson hit the crossbar and later struck the equaliser after a poor header from Michael Mancienne.<\/p>\n

Craig Gardner picked up a second yellow before the break but a scrappy and goalless second half left Wolves 19th in the table, one point from safety.<\/p>\n

And Mick McCarthy’s team could even finish Sunday propping up the Premier League if West Ham defeat Manchester City in the late game.<\/p>\n

But the result edged Blues a point nearer to safety as Alex McLeish’s team are now four clear of the bottom three with three games left.<\/p>\n

The Carling Cup winners, thrashed 5-0 by Liverpool in their previous league game, face matches against Newcastle, Fulham and Tottenham.<\/p>\n

Wolves have now gone five games without a victory and take on Black Country rivals West Brom in their next fixture before ending the season with matches against Sunderland and Blackburn.<\/p>\n

It promises to be a tight and edgy end to the campaign for the men from Molineux, as McCarthy’s team look to avoid a return to the Championship after two seasons in the top flight.<\/p>\n

Certainly, Sunday’s contest at St Andrew’s was more about feisty tackles than finessed passing.<\/p>\n

The second half was particularly disappointing, with hardly any chances of note for either team.<\/p>\n

In truth, it was up to Wolves to make the running on a hot day in the Midlands.<\/p>\n

With Gardner off and defender Roger Johnson limping through the latter stages of the match after picking up an injury, Wolves had to press home the opportunity to claim a vital three points but Blues looked relatively comfortable.<\/p>\n

Wolves had got off to the ideal start when Fletcher’s penalty – a low left-foot strike that sent Foster the wrong way – gave them the lead after seven minutes.<\/p>\n

Foster was at fault for the goal, gifting possession to Matt Jarvis with an atrocious kick under no pressure, before bringing down Ward after he had been played through.<\/p>\n

If anything the early goal served to further enliven a contest that had started at a furious pace, and Gardner and Jamie O’Hara were both booked after squaring up to each other.<\/p>\n

The Blues midfielder had taken exception to a heavy tackle from his opponent and their clash led to a melee that required the intervention of several players.<\/p>\n

Birmingham seemed to produce the majority of the precious moments of true quality and the impressive Larsson saw his free-kick crash against the crossbar after Gardner was cynically brought down by Richard Stearman on the edge of the area.<\/p>\n

Fletcher scuffed a rare opening for Wolves when a corner reached him at the far post before Blues drew level when Larsson pounced on Mancienne’s error.<\/p>\n

The defender tried to head a long upfield kick by Foster to his own keeper but did not get enough power on the ball.<\/p>\n

The alert Larsson nipped in and drilled a right-foot strike beyond Wayne Hennessey for his 27th-minute equaliser, but their celebrations were cut short when Gardner was dismissed shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n

The midfielder went down under pressure from Jody Craddock but referee Kevin Friend adjudged that there had been no contact between the players and booked the Birmingham man for simulation.<\/p>\n

The recalled Kevin Phillips was sacrificed shortly afterwards, with midfielder Jean Beausejour replacing him to ensure the home side were not overrun in the middle of the park.<\/p>\n

There was one final chance before the break but Kevin Foley snatched at his shot 12 yards from goal, with his effort drifting wide.<\/p>\n

Wolves replaced defender Stearman with attacking midfielder Adam Hammill at the restart as they attempted to take advantage of their numerical supremacy.<\/p>\n

However, the match became an increasingly ragged and bad-tempered affair.<\/p>\n

Lee Bowyer and Karl Henry tussled several times, with the Wolves skipper booked for a late tackle on the Blues midfielder.<\/p>\n

Jarvis dispossessed Bowyer close to the Blues box but snatched his shot disappointingly wide as the game petered out.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sunday, 1 May 2011<\/p>\n

Barclays Premier League<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Home Team<\/span><\/th>\nScore<\/span><\/th>\nAway Team<\/span><\/th>\nTime<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Birmingham<\/td>\n1-1<\/td>\nWolves<\/td>\nFT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
(HT 1-1)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n<\/td>\n\n\n<\/td>\n\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

BIRMINGHAM<\/p>\n

WOLVES<\/p>\n

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Possession<\/h3>\n