Shay Given was Manchester City’s hero as the goalkeeper produced several fine saves to earn Mark Hughes’ men a point in their goalless Premier League draw away to Birmingham City.
Sunday’s stalemate at St Andrews was enlivened by an impressive display from Republic of Ireland international Given, including a penalty save from Scotland’s James McFadden.
Manchester City’s fourth straight draw was good enough to take the visitors into fourth place in the table.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The home side had a gilt-edged opportunity to take the lead in the 55th minute after Nigel de Jong handled in the box, but the resulting penalty saw McFadden strike a weak shot which wasn’t far enough away from Given and the goalkeeper, diving to his left, made a two-handed save.
“It was a bit of luck I suppose,” Given told Sky Sports. “It’s a bit of a lottery, penalties, for goalkeepers and luckily today I’ve gone the right way and got a strong enough hand to get it away.”
Birmingham’s disappointment at seeing McFadden miss was made worse when Blues midfielder Barry Ferguson was sent off in injury-time for his second bookable offense after trying to stop Manchester City taking a quick throw.
Asked if Ferguson, already on a yellow card, should have known better, Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said: “He should. He’s apologized to myself and his teammates in there. We lose him next week. That’s disappointing, because he’s been exceptional and made us play.”
The draw took Birmingham three points clear of the relegation zone.
English Premier League
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Chelsea | 11 | 20 | 27 |
2 | Manchester United | 11 | 12 | 25 |
3 | Arsenal | 10 | 19 | 22 |
4 | Manchester City | 10 | 7 | 19 |
5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 11 | 4 | 19 |
6 | Liverpool | 11 | 9 | 18 |
7 | Aston Villa | 10 | 5 | 18 |
8 | Sunderland | 11 | 3 | 17 |
9 | Stoke City | 11 | -2 | 16 |
10 | Burnley | 11 | -10 | 15 |
11 | Fulham | 10 | 0 | 14 |
12 | Wigan Athletic | 11 | -9 | 13 |
13 | Everton | 10 | -3 | 12 |
14 | Birmingham City | 11 | -4 | 11 |
15 | Bolton Wanderers | 10 | -5 | 11 |
16 | Wolverhampton | 11 | -7 | 10 |
17 | Blackburn Rovers | 10 | -13 | 10 |
18 | Hull City | 11 | -16 | 8 |
19 | West Ham United | 10 | -4 | 7 |
20 | Portsmouth | 11 | -6 | 7 |
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