Newcastle Vs. Birmingham Final Score: Newcastle Beat 10-Man Birmingham 2-1

Ten-man Birmingham City suffered yet another major blow with a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United at St. James' Park. Although the opening half hour epitomised dull, things suddenly got interesting when Liam Ridgewell blocked a Fabricio Colocini header on the goalline with his hand. The centre back was shown a straight red card for his troubles, and Shola Ameobi stepped up to hammer confidently past Ben Foster.

Minutes later, Steven Taylor made it 2-0 with a pinpoint header from a Joey Barton cross, and the rout looked on... for all of ninety seconds, whereupon Lee Bowyer picked up a loose ball in the penalty area and sent a shot screaming beyond the reach of Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul. The hosts were still the better side in the second half and might have scored more if not for some fine keeping by Foster, but at the end of the day they didn't really need to add that extra goal. Birmingham weren't much of a threat and Newcastle will be more than happy to have earned a 2-1 victory on the day. The visitors, however, are now just three points clear of the relegation zone with two points left to play.