Foster                  (8)*                   Kept us from a real shalaking Carr                    (7)                    Solid performance. Johnson               (5)                    Early unjust booking, stayed rattled. Dann                  ...

  Blues fans at this encounter were steaming at half time as they were justifiably thinking the inadequacies of the referee was the reason that they were behind. In the second half however the visitors demonstrated a level of play that Blues can only dream of at the moment. Rodger Johnson had his worst game for Blues and was handicapped by a ludicrous caution when winning...

Ben Foster Foster (9)* Sensational 1st half kept us in it. Carr (7) Kept Arshavin quiet but at fault with goal 2. Johnson (7) At fault with goal 2 but solid otherwise. Dann (8) This is the guy to play for England Ridgewell (7) Defended well and got forward with effect. Larsson (6) Worked hard but some crosses poor. Fahey (6) Great cross for the goal. Ferguson (7) Looks...

This was a game to get the pulse racing again after the insipid encounters that this team has served up in the last month. Unfortunately the rewards that the performance and effort should have come Blues way, were cruelly snatched away by our old friend ref Martin Atkinson. This man’s incompetence know no boundaries as he was conned by the Moroccan Chamakh who threw...

BBC football pundit Mark Lawrenson has predicted that Birmingham City will lose to Arsenal on Saturday. He told BBC Sport Online: “I don’t know off the top of my head how many internationals were playing from both sides over the last week – depending on how many and who may affect the teams’ performances. “What I do know is Arsenal are pretty...

Hart   (8)   Commanding performance Carr   (8)   Commanding display Johnson   (8)  Solid as a rock. Dann   (8)   Back to his best Ridgewell   (7)   No trouble from Walcott, Nasri caused problems. Gardner   (8)   Tigerish and created goal Bowyer  (7)  Worked hard and battled Diabi Ferguson  (7)   Beter than Fabregas but bad pass lead to goal. McFadden ...

While this result has re-ignited the Blues Premiership campaign the Gunner’s championship aspirations have once more disappeared at St Andrews. There will be the plethora of indignities from the most disliked man in football who ironically is in charge of the nation’s most watchable team. There has been too much said about the history of this fixture and now those...

Alex McLeish has insisted that Arsene Wenger is wrong to claim that there was a vendetta against Arsenal. Wenger expressed his anger at Craig Gardner’s challenge on Cesc Fabregas, which left the Spaniard with a knee injury. He said: “The tackle by Craig on Fabregas was robust. I know what Arsene was getting at because if you follow through, even if you have...

Alex McLeish refused to be drawn into talk of the incident in which Arsenal striker Eduardo suffered a broken leg at St Andrews in 2008. The Birmingham City boss insists the club have “moved on” since then and is focusing on the clash between the two clubs this weekend. McLeish said: “We have moved on. I don’t even want to talk about it. Eduardo...

The prospect of a return to St Andrews by the precious untouchable Arsenal team and their manager Arsene Wenger has generated an upsurge in ticket sales. If the St Andrew’s faithful expect to hear an apology to Martin Taylor by anyone connected with London outfit then there will be snow in Timbuktu before that happens. We all felt sympathy for Eduardo but the condemnation...