Premier League - Birmingham battle past Wigan

27/02/2010 18:30:35

James McFadden's penalty just before half time was enough to earn the Blues three points and send them above Fulham and Everton, who both play on Sunday.

The end of the match saw seven minutes of injury time after linesman Trevor Massey sustained an injury after the corner flag twanged into his head in the second half, but Wigan were unable to make a vastly-improved second-half performance pay with an equaliser.

Hugo Rodallega had the game's first real chance when he fired over the bar on 10 minutes, but from then on it was Birmingham creating the chances.

Sebastian Larsson's dead ball deliveries caused the Latics all sorts of problems, with defender Scott Dann twice heading wide and Liam Ridgewell hitting the crossbar.

Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland had his part to play in keeping his side on terms, saving Cameron Jerome's shot on the turn at the near post before making a point-blank stop from McFadden after some good work from Ridgewell on the wing.

Birmingham took a deserved lead in first-half stoppage time. Former Birmingham defender Mario Melchiot, who received a few half-hearted boos from the home crowd whenever he touched the ball, tripped Keith Fahey just inside the area as the midfielder was heading away from goal.

McFadden calmly finished into the bottom corner from the penalty spot for only his third goal of the season and his first since October.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez made a double change at the break, replacing Charles N'Zogbia and Paul Scharner with forwards Victor Moses and Jason Scotland. Despite the pair only having one Premier League goal between, they added an extra dimension to Wigan's play and the visitors took control of the second half.

For all the attractive football played by the Latics, however, wayward finishing has been the thorn in Martinez's side for much of the season. This was illustrated when Moses, Scotland and Rodallega all combined in a flowing move forward, only for the latter to hit a tame shot right at Hart.

The Colombian was again denied by Hart from close range after James McCarthy had found him with a through ball following a rare mistake from Dann.

Just as Wigan were looking as though they could make the breakthrough, the wind was taken out of their sails with a five-minute break in play due to the linesman's injury. McCarthy had the ball in the corner and Ridgewell dived in with a nasty tackle on the youngster's standing leg. McCarthy knocked the corner flag over as he went down and it struck the head of Massey. After he was taken away by medics, experienced official Steve Bennett ran the line for Premier League newcomer Anthony Taylor for the rest of the match, but even all the added time was not enough for Wigan to salvage a point they both needed and deserved.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport