Bryan Hughes and Mikael Forssell put Birmingham back on course for Europe, and
dealt a blow to Leeds' survival hopes in a pulsating Barclaycard Premiership
clash at St. Andrews.
Hughes, who is on the verge of signing a new three-year contract, enabled the
home side to recover from Mark Viduka's early strike with a two-goal blast.
Then Forssell's double took his own tally for the campaign to 18, and the fans
were chanting 'sign him up' when the on-loan Chelsea striker was substituted to
a standing ovation.
Birmingham are now level on points with Newcastle - they are in action on
Sunday - following a match where both defences looked anything but solid.
Leeds may feel the final scoreline flattered their opponents and they were
left to regret Viduka's glaring early miss which would have put them 2-0 ahead
inside the opening 10 minutes.
But they were blown away by three goals in 16 second-half minutes to leave
them in the bottom three.
Leeds threatened to over-run Birmingham in the early stages and it needed a
reflex save from Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor to keep the home side on level
terms.
Didier Domi's cross was headed on by Alan Smith to Viduka and his powerful low
volley was turned around the post by Taylor.
But Eddie Gray's side were not to be denied and they went ahead after four
minutes through Viduka's ninth goal of the campaign.
Jermaine Pennant provided the telling through ball and the Australian kept his
nerve before turning inside Martin Grainger and planting a low left-footed shot
past Taylor's despairing dive.
Viduka squandered a golden chance to double Leeds' lead after 10 minutes with
the Birmingham defence again all at sea.
James Milner was second favourite to win a ball by the by-line, but he managed
to turn it across goal and Viduka came in at the far post, only to side-foot
wide from six yards out.
This proved costly, for within 60 seconds Steve Bruce's side were back on
level terms.
Clinton Morrison's low centre was flicked on by Forssell at the near post -
and Hughes was unmarked in the centre to make no mistake.
Leeds still posed a threat to Birmingham defence which did not look as if it
had learnt the lessons of their 5-3 defeat at Middlesbrough.
The home side appealed in vain for handball after Gary Kelly had blocked a
cross from Lazaridis before Forssell came close to notching his 17th goal of the
season.
His first shot was blocked by Robinson, and his rebound effort was cleared off
the line by Domi.
Robinson could then only stand and watch as a Grainger free-kick thudded
against a post and he was relieved to see Martin Taylor send the rebound
straight at him.
Birmingham won a corner in the first minute of the second half, but Forssell
failed to make proper contact with his volley from Grainger's cross and it flew
wide.
Milner made a good run before his rising left-footed effort was dealt with by
Maik Taylor, who was then relieved when he completed failed to make contact with
a Kenny Cunningham back pass - only for the ball to bobble wide of the post.
The Blues 'keeper then went down to his left to clutch onto Viduka's shot on
the turn, but after 66 minutes Birmingham went ahead through Hughes' second
goal.
Morrison's pass found Lazaridis who was aware of the presence of Hughes and he
turned the ball into his path for a simple tap-in from six yards out.
Then two minutes later Forssell gave Blues some daylight.
A long clearance from Cunningham found the Finnish international in space as
Morrison raced back from an offside position.
The on-loan Chelsea striker sprinted clear of the Leeds defence and coolly
slipped the ball wide of Robinson.
Forssell put the icing on the cake for Birmingham from the penalty spot in the
82nd minutes after Dominic Matteo had fouled Morrison.
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