Birmingham City upset the odds at Wembley yesterday to beat Arsenal 2-1 and win the 2011 Carling Cup. A header from Nikola Zigic put the Blues ahead before Robin van Persie’s strike ensured that the teams would go into the break on level terms, which would have been slightly disappointing for Birmingham given the way they played in the first half. Arsenal came into the match more in the second half as Birmingham’s players looked dead on their feet, but a mix up at the back gave Obafemi Martins an easy last-minute tap-in to win the cup for the Blues.
Like the tens of thousands of fans who travelled to Wembley from the second city, Birmingham manager Alex McLeish was obviously delighted with the result. He said “it’s an achievement when you consider who we were up against. We weren’t given a prayer by the pundits and the bookies but we believed today. It was a titanic performance by the players.” McLeish described the match yesterday as the highlight of his career, but with Birmingham now in Europe next season, will that achievement be bettered?
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Birmingham City are 100/1 with bet365 to win the Europa League next season. bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth “Alex McLeish took great pleasure in telling us how we got it wrong by writing off his Birmingham side in the Carling Cup, so I hope we don’t upset him by quoting 100/1 about Blues landing the Europa League!” I’m sure Birmingham fans will just enjoy it while it lasts, but given the determination showed yesterday, European progress surely isn’t out of the question?
Birmingham’s next task is to secure their top flight status and there are much shorter odds on the Blues being relegated from the Premier League at 4/1. On a brighter note Birmingham are in the quarter finals of the FA Cup and are 16/1 to secure the cup double this season? So, does more success beckon for Birmingham City?
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