Fulham<\/a> side that look to have cemented themselves a top-ten finsh.<\/span><\/p>\nAn overriding Fulham side eased their way through the first-half and took the lead after just five minutes following Brede Hangeland\u2019s storming header. Their opponents failed to recover from the early set-back and let the team from the South take control of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0The second-half brought about little change from the home side as Fulham threatened to score two in as many minutes and eventually doubled their lead with a third effort and allowed Hangeland to add another goal to his tally.<\/span><\/p>\nThe hosts were without the suspended Craig Gardner and Liam Ridgewell, with and Kevin Phillip Stuart Parnaby both getting starts. Scott Dann, Obafemi Martins and James McFadden all stayed sidelined.<\/span><\/p>\nFulham\u2019s camp were bolstered by the fitness of Bobby Zamora, but were without Simon Davis thanks to a calf problem.<\/span><\/p>\nThe result leaves Birmingham teetering on the edge of the relegation zone, just above Blackpool with goal-difference separating the two sides. Meanwhile, the victory has all but cemented Fulham a top-ten finish.<\/span><\/p>\nIt was the visitors that started the game brightly after an audacious attempt to lob Ben Foster from Danny Murphy was followed by a great move begun by the same player, as the former Liverpool man feed the ball to the by-line for Andy Johnson who was able to place a dangerous ball for Clint Dempsey. However, the American somehow could only put the chance over the bar from short distance.<\/span><\/p>\nIt wasn\u2019t too long after that Mark Hughes\u2019 side took the lead after Foster was caught out by a long punt from Mark Schwarzer that forced a corner. The set-piece was taken high and long by Jonathan Greening and was met by a leaping Hangeland<\/strong>, who towered over teammate Philippe Senderos to head the ball past the shell-shocked \u2018keeper and his defenders.<\/span><\/p>\nSteve Sidwell was given far too much room for another Fulham opportunity. The former Aston Villa midfielder collected the ball down the middle and made a driving run toward goal, but the effort was far too weak to threaten Foster and went down as a wasted chance for the visitors.<\/span><\/p>\nIt could have very easily been 2-0 on the half-hour mark with Fulham\u2019s tenth attempt on goal. Greening again taking a set-piece, this time a free-kick from the right-side, found Zamora deep in the Birmingham area and the forward rose well to head the ball towards the far post. However, it was the post that denied him in the end, as his effort clipped the outside of the woodwork and safely out for a goal-kick.<\/span><\/p>\nBirmingham nearly equalised with a similar effort minutes later, after a ball from Parnaby found Martin Jiranek just inside the Fulham box on the left on his own and the defender with a free header sent the ball agonisingly past the post of Mark Schwarzer\u2019s goal.<\/span><\/p>\nAs the first-half came to a close, it was obvious that the team from west London were in control. Alex McLeish\u2019s side seemed to pick themselves up towards the end of the initial 45-minutes, but with only one real chance for their efforts, a few choice words were needed during the break to spring them into life to full effect.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"file:\/C:\/Users\/Bizza\/AppData\/Local\/Temp\/moz-screenshot-2.png\")
<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, after the teams returned from half-time, things got worse very soon for Birmingham. Two efforts from Fulham in quick succession rattled the Blues defence, after a Zamora attempt that threatened to lob Foster was followed up with a chance from Sidwell that smashed against the post.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter missing the chance to go at least three up, Fulham made sure they made their next chance count with Hangeland<\/strong> getting on the score sheet for the second time. A corner from Greening caught out Jiranek who stubbed the ball towards his own goal allowing Zamora to head freely at the far post, but a clearance off of the line found his Norwegian teammate who managed a hook-volley that blasted into the corner of the net.<\/span><\/p>\nA slight resurgence from the hosts brought life into the home crowd, but a succession of misses and poor corners failed to live up to the expectations of the Birmingham faithful and left Schwarzer still waiting to be tested after over an hour of football.<\/span><\/p>\nAlex McLeish\u2019s day got worse as Birmingham were forced to play the final 10-minutes with 10 men after Eider Gudjohnsen clipped the leg of Alexander Hleb and left the midfielder with a supposed twisted knee following a bad landing. Having used up all their substitutes, the concluding minutes of the game promised to be long for the hosts.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Blues were futile with their efforts of even just a consolation goal in the dying moments, as Fulham kept solid at the back as they had done all game, a complete contrast to the hosts\u2019 performance.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOriginally posted here:
\nBirmingham 0-2 Fulham: Hangeland scores unlikely double as relegation fears mount for Alex McLeish\u2019s League Cup winners<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Sam Bisby 15 May 2011 17:55:00 EPL : Alex McLeish, Birmingham City- Aston Villa(Getty Images) Related Links Teams Birmingham City failed to wash away their relegation fears following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a dominant Fulham side that look to have cemented themselves a top-ten finsh. An overriding Fulham side eased their way through the first-half and took the lead after just five minutes following Brede Hangeland\u2019s storming header. Their opponents failed to recover from the early set-back and let the team from the South take control of the game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":418982,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-424263","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\n
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An overriding Fulham side eased their way through the first-half and took the lead after just five minutes following Brede Hangeland\u2019s storming header. 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![\"EPL](\"http:\/\/u.goal.com\/95700\/95764_news.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n