Fulham 2, Birmingham City 1: Colin Tattum's big match verdict

Feb 22 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

Danny Murphy and James McFadden battle for the ball.

Barry Ferguson and Bobby Zamora battle for the ball.

Lee Bowyer celebrates with team-mate James McFadden after his cross is turned in by Fulham's Chris Baird.

Fulham's Damien Duff celebrates after scoring his side's first goal of the game.

Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish watches from the touchline.

Bobby Zamora and Liam Ridgewell battle for the ball.

Fulham's Bobby Zamora scores his side's second goal of the game from a free kick.

Fulham's Bobby Zamora is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring his side's second goal of the game.

FOR the first weekend since the beginning of December, Blues have dropped out of the Premier League’s top eight.

Everton, with their best players returning to fitness, have come up on the rails.

Fulham, with plenty of momentum not least from their Europa and FA Cup adventures, have also challenged their position.

Blues looked set to hold them off at Craven Cottage yesterday, in terms of league and game, and only a brilliant equaliser from Damien Duff and Bobby Zamora’s stunning 90th-minute free-kick thwarted an away victory.

For what Blues have achieved since Championship promotion, it would be a shame if they were unable to maintain their mid-table berth.

Something tangible – whether a best finish since 2004 (tenth), or progression to the FA Cup semi-finals – would be at least fitting.

And yesterday’s fare showed that Fulham are the kind of team they can realistically aspire to be like, if not Everton, in the near future.

The Cottagers just survived relegation two years ago, sending Blues crashing down instead.

They then emerged as a credible Premier League side under the shrewd guidance of Roy Hodgson and qualified for Europe.

Alex McLeish, of similar ilk to Hodgson, is trying to remould Blues in such fashion and is on the right road.

The taste of such a late, late defeat will have been sour, and they will have to learn a painful lesson from it.

Could they have been more adventurous and not sat in? Was there really a need for Stephen Carr to go clattering into Zoltan Gera with 30 seconds left to provide Fulham with the free-kick on the edge of the penalty area?

Still, it was a tremendous drive from Zamora that was too hot to handle for Joe Hart, who got fingertips to the ball at full stretch.

It had started so well for Blues, too, in the third minute.

A long ball down the middle was nodded back by Cameron Jerome to James McFadden and although he was shuffled out of possession, Lee Bowyer picked up the loose ball on the right.