Venue: St Andrews Stadium Date: Saturday, 30 January 2010
Liam Ridgewell grabbed an injury-time equaliser against Spurs as Birmingham extended their unbeaten home record. Battling Birmingham City salvaged a late 1-1 draw against Tottenham with another typical performance after they had appeared to be heading to defeat following Jermain Defoe's goal.Birmingham City vs Tottenham Hotspur Match Report
With time running out, Birmingham finally grabbed an equaliser when James McFadden's cross was headed back across the face of goal for Liam Ridgewell to score from close range.
Ridgewell's goal robbed Spurs of chalking up only their second win at St Andrew's in 24 years.
A brave Birmingham side refused to concede defeat and they were well their point against a Spurs side which has only lost three of its last 13 games.
Birmingham, now unbeaten at home in their last eight league matches, do lack goalscoring power. This was always evident and explains why manager Alex McLeish is desperate for a new striker.
There were no early signs of Birmingham suffering a setback after losing their long unbeaten record at Chelsea in midweek.
Birmingham were, in fact, the first to threaten danger when Lee Bowyer was set up for a strike but his effort was saved low down by Heurelho Gomes.
With former Birmingham player Wilson Palacios quickly making an impact in midfield against his old club, Spurs responded with a snap raid which finished with Luka Modric's shot going just wide.
But the best chance fell to Christian Benitez in the 17th minute when the Birmingham striker was put clear by Cameron Jerome. Benitez cleverly left Michael Dawson in his wake but a weak shot was easily saved by Gomes.
It was a golden opportunity that they were to rue but it illustrated Birmingham's ability to be a serious attacking threat.
Ledley King and Dawson, however, were well in control at this stage as Spurs gave ample proof of their credentials.
Spurs appeared to be applying a wearing down process. Peter Crouch suddenly opened Birmingham's defence with a subtle pass to David Bentley who saw Joe Hart fingertip his effort away for a corner.
Bentley went close to breaking the stalemate early in the second period, while Crouch stumbled as he shot from eight yards following a pass from the generally quiet Defoe.
The game then became a little untidy with Roger Johnson, Palacios and Bowyer all being booked in a four-minute spell.
Bowyer then made way for recent signing, Michel, to make his first home appearance since his arrival from Sporting Gijon.
But in the 69th minute Spurs finally got on target when Gareth Bale advanced down the left and his low cross was deftly flicked on Crouch to Defoe who hammered a first-time shot past Hart for his 17th goal of the season.
Spurs were seemingly on course for victory but a determined Ridgewell had other ideas as he forced home his 90th-minute face-saver.
Birmingham City vs Tottenham Hotspur Highlights Video
68:07 GOAL - Jermain Defoe:Birmingham 0 - 1 Tottenham
Bale drives into the penalty area on the left. His cross is met by Crouch, who finds Defoe 10 yards out and he hits the back of the net.
90:00+0:16 GOAL - Liam Ridgewell:Birmingham 1 - 1 Tottenham
McFadden's cross from the left causes problems in the Spurs defence. Jerome plays it back across the goal and Ridgewell taps home from close range.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish on striker Chucho:
"He carved out a great chance in the first half, maybe he should have put his laces through it and it was a powerpuff shot.
"But he's dangerous and if we can get more balls into him in the box, that's when he is really dangerous and comes alive.
"I thought we lacked a wee bit of quality and looked a little one-paced. But it was a marvellous result from a not very good performance from us, our aggression and will to win got us through it."
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp:
"We dominated the game, so I didn't really see the goal coming. It was a poor goal and it was pretty horrendous defending from a team that defended well all day and never were in any danger.
"We were in control of the game, we just had to continue playing the way we were. We had three points in the bag and threw two away.
"But we've only had one defeat in 12 games, so we're not in bad form. I was delighted with he way we played it's not an easy place to come to."
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