What a great result. Although we don’t need another game (Other than financially) the draw was a fair result and we had the chances to win it. Chelsea were not at their best but we made it difficult for them with an excellent defensive performance. Curtis Davies had Torres in his pocket in the first half and even bringing Drogba, Lampard and Kalou didn’t make a big difference. Doyle’s penalty save was also crucial as it meant we remained 1-0 for another thirty minutes and weren’t pegged back immediately.
Nathan Redmond had two great chances to win it towards the end but lacked a bit of composure and neither effort really troubled Cech. He did do some good defensive work as well but needs to work on his movement off the ball when we are in possession. I also thought out midfield three of Mutch, Gomis and Fahey did really well which contributed to Chelsea being restricted to only a few chances. Young Jake Jervis did well when he came on replacing Rooney who really put in a shift with little support.
It was a great atmosphere amongst the away support and I really enjoyed the day. There’s no reason not to be confident for the replay at fortress St Andrews. Hopefully Villas Boas is still in charge by then.
Well done Blues.
Great result and performance from Birmingham. We should feel confident about the replay and the fact that Zigic should be back to cause havoc in their dodgy defence.
The return leg would afford us the opportunity to dismantle your st andrews fortress. And stay alive to watch avb lift the silverware @ wembley come may.
Bosman blues, play as a team, heart and soul better than the cockney plastics, proud to be a brummie today.
Ray can carry on thinking like that for me. I noted on various blogs when the draw was made that Chelsea fans were speculating about who they were going to get in the quarter finals! Banter is one thing; plain ignorant arrogance is quite another. What is it about pride and a fall? Chelsea still have to be favourites at St Andrews but Blues can go into the return with confidence and who knows we may have a repeat of 1968 when the impossible was achieved by a Fred Pickering goal to put the lads through to the semi-finals against a better Chelsea team than the present one.
Ray
Interesting that you write “would”, when you mean “won’t” or “can’t”.
Baz, we could do with Pickering at the moment with our lack of fit forwards!
In truth, nine times out of ten – Chelsea would beat us at home or away However, we are a tricky side to break down and we are a side who play for each other – something that the Chelsea side didn’t do Saturday if the brief highlights I have seen and the match reports I’ve read are anything to go by.
I’ll second that, Kev!
Ray – you’re buying into AVB’s delusion that he has ‘unconditional’ backing from Abramovich. I don’t think he deserves sacking, but to suggest ANY manager has ‘unconditional’ backing, especially when results simply aren’t what their club has come to expect is ridiculous these days. He may not be there, come the replay at our aptly named “Fortress St Andrews”!
Keep Right On!