Birmingham twice came from behind to defeat Wigan 3-2 and pull clear of trouble.
Late Kapo goal clinches 3-2 win for Birmingham
Birmingham twice came from behind to defeat Wigan 3-2 and pull clear of trouble.
Both sides have struggled in recent weeks, with Birmingham on a losing run of three games and Wigan having suffered three successive defeats, but they played out an entertaining game at St Andrews.
Marcus Bent capitalised on some poor defending from Liam Ridgewell to fire The Latics ahead after 23 minutes, but Paul Scharner's handball presented Olivier Kapo with an opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot just three minutes later.
Bent restored Wigan's lead on 59 minutes after a terrible mix-up between Maik Taylor and Stephen Kelly, only for Birmingham to respond swiftly again through Ridgewell.
Kapo then fired a powerful shot past Chris Kirkland with just nine minutes remaining to clinch all three points for Blues and ease the pressure on manager Steve Bruce.
Bright start
Birmingham made a positive start and Cameron Jerome would have been disappointed to drag his left-footed shot wide from 12 yards out after a Daniel De Ridder cross had been deflected into his path.
City had a let-off when Antonio Valencia's pace took him clear of Franck Queudrue and his cross picked out an unmarked Jason Koumas on the far side of the six-yard box.
But Scharner dived in front of the Welsh international and his attempted volley flew well wide of the target.
Wigan stunned the home side by going ahead through Bent's third goal of the campaign after 23 minutes.
A long hopeful clearance from Mario Melchiot caught out the City rearguard and Bent was able to race clear and hammer past an exposed Taylor from 12 yards out.
Birmingham tried to retaliate and the lively De Ridder had a powerful free-kick tipped over the bar by Latics keeper Kirkland.
But from the corner by the Dutch Under 21 winger, Bruce's side managed to get back on level terms from the penalty spot. De Ridder's centre was met by the head of Queudrue and was handled by Scharner just inside the box.
Up stepped Kapo to calmly send Kirkland the wrong way with the spot-kick for what was also his third goal of the campaign.
De Ridder was looking impressive on his full debut and Kirkland did well to beat out a fierce left-footed drive from close range after he had used his trickery to create an opening for himself.
Taylor prevented Wigan from regaining the lead by blocking a close-range effort from Koumas and in first-half injury-time Kirkland narrowed the angle to cling onto Kapo's chip.
Defensive mix-up
The Blues fans were trying to lift their side but there was a growing feeling of tension around the stadium and a defensive mix-up presented Bent with his second goal after 59 minutes.
Melchiot was again the creator with a teasing cross which dipped in the middle of the six-yard box and Kelly and Taylor got in each other's way to leave Bent with the easiest of chances.
Bruce's response was to bring on Scotland striker Garry O'Connor in place of Fabrice Muamba and after 67 minutes City drew level for the second time through Ridgewell.
De Ridder's corner was headed goalwards by Rafael Schmitz and Ridgewell was able to deflect the ball past Kirkland from close range.
With nine minutes left Kapo's low drive from the edge of the box went past the despairing dive of Kirkland into the corner of the net.
| Birmingham City |
Team Statistics |
Wigan Athletic |
| 3 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
5 |
| 9 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 6 |
Corners |
6 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 64.5 |
Passing Success |
66.8 |
| 18 |
Tackles |
16 |
| 77.8 |
Tackles Success |
75 |
| 48.6 |
Possession |
51.4 |
| 54.1 |
Territorial Advantage |
45.9 |
|
