Man City 3 West Brom 0: Stats, report and pictures with Bill Howell

 Referee Neil Swarbrick made a horrible gaffe in sending off the wrong man after just 90 seconds as West Brom crashed to a heavy defeat at the champions.

Gareth McAuley was shown the red card despite Craig Dawson being the last man.

Dawson missed the ball and Wilfried Bony thundered through.

Swarbrick blew his whistle as McAuley made a tackle inside the box and awarded the free-kick outside the area.

Then ten men battled gamely enough but were simply out-played and could have been on the end of a cricket score.

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Cardiff City 2 Birmingham City 0 - report, stats and pictures

Birmingham City's unbeaten run stalled in South Wales with two second half goals enough to condemn Blues to their first defeat in five.

A 50th minute strike from Eoin Doyle and Peter Whittingham’s penalty with a quarter of an hour to go were enough to give Cardiff the three points.

And few could have argued they weren’t deserved. Russell Slade’s men hardly put on a vintage display but it was considerably better than Birmingham’s.

The visitors managed just four shots all game - and only one on target, in a display that will once again give rise to suggestions they have clocked off for the season.

Thankfully they have built up enough of a cushion not to have to worry about the relegation shake-up but Gary Rowett - who was sent to the stands for protesting about a throw-in he felt had been wrongly awarded, will demand better from his players.

The Blues boss tried to inject some interest into the match by changing his system and starting with 4-1-4-1 for the first time in his tenure.

That meant an instant recall for Stephen Gleeson who had served out his three match ban following his sending off against Brentford.

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Aston Villa 0 Swansea 1 - match report, pictures and stats

It was late heartbreak for Tim Sherwood and Aston Villa as Bafetimbi Gomis struck late to hand Swansea all three points.

It could have been a heavier score-line; both Brad Guzan and Ciaran Clark came to Villa's rescue, notably preventing Gomis from scoring on a number of occasions in the first half.

The hosts awoke following a half-time seeing to from Sherwood, and in the second half they shaded proceedings.

Ultimately their efforts were in vain.

Agbonlahor had the best chance of the match for the Villans when he collected Christian Benteke's knock down in the penalty area, but he didn't make sufficient contact when he should have done better.

Scott Sinclair, too, came close to netting against his former employers, both before and after Gomis' goal, but Sherwood's mini-revival has been, temporarily at least, cut short.

Swansea, intricate in their passing and movement, carved the first chance of the match when quick feet from Gylfi Sigurdsson allowed Neil Taylor to pull the ball back for Gomis, but Guzan stood up to the test.

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Tony Pulis on THAT refereeing decision at Manchester City

West Brom boss Tony Pulis has expressed his frustration at Gareth McAuley's 89 second red card against Manchester City at The Etihad Stadium.

He spoke out against the decision on two levels, firstly because he did not believe the offence was worthy of a red card and then because Swarbrick got the wrong man.

After the game, Pulis called for greater use of video technology to assist officials.

He said: "Refereeing is not easy, especially at the level we are at now and how quick the game is.

"This product is one of the greatest products this country now sells all over the world, but it is no good moaning about referees. What we have to do is find a way to help referees out. news from http://www.birminghammail.co.uk


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Kevin Summerfield hopes Cardiff defeat will give Blues a boost

Birmingham City assistant manager Kevin Summerfield admitted Blues couldn’t take much out of their 2-0 defeat at Cardiff - other than the fact it could act as a ‘kick up the backside’.

Blues put in one of their poorest performances under Gary Rowett and produced just one shot on target in a frustrating afternoon that saw their manager end the game in the stands.

Second half goals from Eoin Doyle and Peter Whittingham were enough to win a low quality match - one that contained few positives for the visitors.

“It’s probably come at not a bad time,” Summerfield said.

“We have got eight games left, we’re not considered safe so we have still got to roll our sleeves up and put decent performances in like we have done over the last two or three months.

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We deserved a point - Tim Sherwood

Tim Sherwood was ‘disappointed’ to lose so late into the match with Swansea, the second time Aston Villa have lost late at home under his leadership.

The Villa boss has enjoyed a successful couple of weeks after the derby double over Albion and an emphatic win at Sunderland, but his side were brought back down to earth in dramatic fashion as Bafetimbi Gomis earned the Swans all three points in the dying moments.

Sherwood said: “It’s the second time it’s happened since I’ve been here.

“It happened in my first match against Stoke, but that was a little bit later. news from http://www.birminghammail.co.uk


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Sasha Simone gets through to semi final

Brummie bricklayer Sasha Simone has made it through to the semi finals of BBC1’s The Voice after delivering a knockout performance.

The 25 year-old from Handsworth, was given a standing ovation from all four judges on the TV talent show after she delivered a rousing version of Awolnation’s Sail.

Her coach Sir Tom Jones, who dubbed her The Queen of Hearts, gave her a fast pass to the semi finals, meaning she didn’t have to endure a public vote to decide whether or not she would go through.
Sasha, who promised to hold back her tears on the show after previous emotional performances, was praised by all four judges, and called “the real deal” by Will.i.am.

Before her performance, she said: “I need to stop being afraid”.


And there was no sign of fear as she belted out the rock number with great force, dressed in a flowing black dress and flanked by dancers in hoodies. news from www.birminghammail.co.uk

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