Draw with Birmingham dents Liverpool’s CL aspirations

Birmingham: Birmingham City dented Liverpool’s Champions League hopes on Sunday after holding Rafael Benitez’s side to a 1-1 draw at St Andrew’s.

The Reds took the lead a minute into the second half through Steven Gerrard before Liam Ridgewell’s close range effort earned a point for the Blues, leaving Rafael Benitez’s side four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, having played a games more. Birmingham City were unchanged from their 1-1 draw against Arsenal last week, with boss Alex McLeish opting to field the same starting line-up for the third successive match, which meant Kevin Phillips, who came off the bench to score a last-minute equaliser against the Gunners, was again named among the substitutes. Liverpool made three changes from Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Benfica. Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Maxi Rodriguez and Yossi Benayoun returned in the place of Daniel Agger, Javier Mascherano and Ryan Babel, while Alberto Aquilani recovered from an ankle injury to take his place on the bench.Birmingham came closest to scoring the opener after just six minutes. Lucas brought down McFadden on the left wing and Fahey’s inswinging delivery into the crowded area looked to trouble Reina but the Spaniard leapt above everyone to punch the ball away. Rafael Benitez’s side had the majority of possession early on. After a number of Liverpool passes, Benayoun received a pass 30 yards out from goal and after somehow weaving his way past Gardner and Carr on the left wing, the Israeli took a heavy touch and the Birmingham duo were able to easily shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick. Liverpool had the first attempt on goal after 15 minutes. A patient build up from the Reds eventually resulted in Kuyt being found on the edge of the Birmingham area but the Dutchman’s right-footed strike took a deflection off Johnson and bounced through to Hart who comfortably claimed the ball. The Reds continued to put pressure on Birmingham and went close from a corner just four minutes later. Gerrard’s looping cross found Kuyt at the far post but the Liverpool forward’s close range effort was blocked and cleared all the way to Reina in the opposition’s goal. The visitors had another chance from a set-piece moments later when Torres worked tirelessly to pressure Hart into conceding a corner. Gerrard’s inswinging delivery was easily cut out by Dann but the ball fell to Insua, whose left-footed strike from the edge of the area was straight at Hart. Torres struggled to get involved in the game in the early stages of the game but had a chance to open the scoring for the visitors on the half hour. Maxi found the Spaniard 25 yards out but his right-footed curling effort could not trouble Hart and flew high and wide. The same Liverpool pair caused problems again on 34 minutes. Reina started the move with a long throw and after Torres combined with Kuyt on the right wing, the Spaniard found Maxi eight yards out with a clever right-footed cross but the January signing’s close range effort was excellently tipped onto his own crossbar by Hart. Birmingham began to come into the game more as the first half drew to a close. McFadden flashed a left-footed strike over from 20 yards out before Jerome earned a corner for the Blues after Reina’s parried his fierce strike wide of the post. Reina flapped at the resulting corner but luckily for the Reds keeper, McFadden could only head wide. Liverpool started the second half well, earning a corner almost straight from the kick-off. Gerrard’s inswinging cross was cleared to the edge but only as far as Johnson, who horribly miscued his shot, but fortunately for the England full-back, the ball fell to Gerrard. The Reds skipper then cut inside past Bowyer before curling a brilliant right-footed shot past Hart into the far corner. Rafael Benitez’s side were buoyed after opening the scoring and went close again through Gerrard. Torres earned a free-kick 25 yards out after going down under the challenge of Bowyer and Gerrard struck low towards the bottom right-hand corner but his effort was off target and rolled wide. Making his 200th club start, McFadden had a quiet first half but really made an impact in the 55th minute. The Scotland international turned skilfully onto his left foot on the right side of the Liverpool penalty area before clipping a cross into the area, and Ridgewell ghosted his way past Johnson at the far post to turn the ball in from close range. With half an hour still left in the game, Rafael Benitez took off Torres with Ngog coming on in his place. Ngog earned boos from the Birmingham fans as he came on for his dive against the Blues in the 2-2 draw at Anfield in November, while Torres shook his head at the decision as he walked past his manager. Despite disbelief at Rafael Benitez’s decision to bring on Ngog for Torres, the Frenchman almost put his side ahead. Johnson cut inside on the right wing before sending in a left-footed cross into Ngog in the Birmingham area but he could only head wide of the near post, much to the delight of the home support. Ridgewell got forward well down the left wing for Birmingham and he almost provided a goal for the Blues on 69 minutes. The former Aston Villa defender broke down the left and curled in an excellent cross towards an unmarked Bowyer at the far post but as the Blues midfielder shaped to shoot with his left foot, he sliced his effort wide of the post. Ngog made an impact after coming on as a substitute but missed another chance late on. Maxi combined with Kuyt on the right wing before cutting the ball back to the Frenchman in the penalty area but his low strike was off target and could only rattle the side-netting. Liverpool looked the better of the better two sides heading into the last ten minutes and Maxi came close to scoring a winner for the Reds. Ngog’s cut back from the by-line fell to the Argentine but his fierce strike was blocked by his own teammate Aquilani, who replaced Kuyt with 15 minutes left to play. Gerrard looked to provide a late goal for Liverpool after finding Ngog in the area but Hart raced in front of the Frenchman to punch clear before Maxi fired the follow up wide as the Reds missed out on the chance to close the gap on the top four. Goal.com