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A 37th minute goal from Olivier Kapo gave Birmingham a 1-0 victory over Bolton at St.Andrews. Sammy Lee made one change from the side which lost to Everton two week's ago, bringing in Andy O'Brien for Gerald Cid, who took his place on the bench. But it was the hosts who began the game the brighter and were unlucky not to have the lead inside two minutes. Cameron Jerome latched on to a long-ball before deciding to shoot early, steering the ball wide of Jussi Jaaskelainen's post. Sebastian Larsson had the next chance, confusing the Bolton defence with a couple of good touches, but his shot was blocked by Abdoulaye Meite. The Swede had another chance soon after, getting infront of the back four once again, but this time it was Jlloyd Samuel who came to the rescue. Kevin Nolan had Bolton's first chance of the game, but his volley in the 11th minute failed to trouble Maik Taylor in the Birmingham goal. Olivier Kapo almost gave the Blue's the lead when his glancing header from a Larsson free-kick forced a world-class save out of Jaaskelainen. The Trotters hit the hosts on the counter attack and Samuel forced Taylor into conceding a corner after a good run down the left flank. O'Brien should have scored from the resulting corner, finding himself unmarked in the six-yard box, but he put his header over the bar. But Steve Bruce's side went to the other end and took the lead. Kapo got on the end of a cross from Larsson and directed the ball into the net, leaving Jaaskelainen with no chance. Wanderers came out a little nervous after the interval, with Jaaskelainen almost gifting Cameron Jerome a goal, but the forward screwed his shot wide. Daniel Braaten came on for Mikel Alonso on 53 minutes, in a switch which saw Sammy Lee revert to a 4-4-2 formation. Larsson could have doubled Birmingham's lead just after the hour but Jaaskelainen did well to push away the drive. Soon after, Braaten broke from inside his own half, played a neat one-two with Nicolas Anelka and would've been clear on goal but for a brilliant challenge from Stephen Kelly. Samuel was forced off the field on 73 minutes after pulling up with what is thought to be a hamstring injury, before being replaced by Ricardo Gardner, who was making his first appearance of the season. O'Brien was booked for a challenge on Jerome, and Larsson's resulting free-kick from the edge of the area struck the crossbar before being hooked to safety. Gavin McCann found himself in the right place at the right time on 80 minutes, heading off the line after Johann Djourou found himself unmarked from a corner. Wanderers tried to find a way back into the game inside the final five minutes, with Nicky Hunt having a speculative volley but it was not to be for the visitors as Birmingham picked up their first home win of the season. They would have been hoping for a positive result to take into the UEFA Cup, with the Bolton squad set to travel to Macedonia during the week, when they face FK Rabotnicki on Thursday. |
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