Birmingham City 0, Manchester City 0: Colin Tattum's big match verdict

Nov 2 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

FOR all the petro-dollars lavished on Manchester City by Mark Hughes, few can have been better spent than those put towards Shay Given.

The Ireland goalkeeper proved the game’s best performer on a cracking afternoon’s entertainment at St Andrew’s.

Not only did Given save James McFadden’s 56th-minute penalty but he thwarted Blues’ valiant and eager performance thanks to other acts of agility and alertness.

How Blues were made to rue McFadden’s spot-kick miss.

He struck the ball low to the right but with not enough power, and not quite into the corner far enough to get it past Given’s dive.

Blues, with Christian Benitez again a livewire who kept Manchester’s defence on edge, would have earned fair reward from a victory.

Manchester had lots of possession and poured forward to threaten on plenty of occasions, yet Blues never buckled at what on paper was a sharp difference in quality and experience, not to mention financial muscle.

In Roger Johnson and Scott Dann, Alex McLeish has recruited a pair of centre-halves with enormous potential to grow and prosper in the Premier League.

They were robust, kept apace with Manchester’s trickery and movement and didn’t look out of place on this stage.

If that pair, and the excellent Stephen Carr, provided a bedrock, then at the other end Benitez looked as if he would run away with the game himself in the early exchanges.

In the ninth minute he struck the base of the post, Given just getting a touch, after Blues went after the Manchester defence.

Two minutes later he should have scored when great hustling by Sebastian Larsson and Cameron Jerome set him away on the left of the penalty area, only for Given to stop a poor shot with his legs.

Blues’ start was full of intent and gusto, while Manchester took a while to settle into any sort of stride.

Given had to tip over a dipping volley from McFadden while Maik Taylor, on his return in place of the ineligible Joe Hart, kept his wits about him and Blues were stout and smart when Manchester posed problems.

Blues should have gained the advantage in the second half when Nigel de Jong bizarrely used his palm as he jumped for a high, hanging ball with Larsson. McFadden, who proved so ice cool in winning the game against Portsmouth in stoppage-time from the spot, was thwarted and with the miss went a great Blues chance to dictate terms.