Livermore salvages win for Baggies in Championship derby thriller marred by rowdy fans
Birmingham took the lead twice, but the Baggies snatched a priceless win in their pursuit of Premier League promotion
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BIRMINGHAM CITY are back in trouble with the beaks again after two of their fans were tackled by stewards as they entered the pitch to celebrate a Lukas Jutkiewicz goal.
Although there was no hint of the aggression which shamed Blues following the violent attack on Jack Grealish which marred their Second City derby with Aston Villa on March 10 – EFL bosses are sure to launch an investigation after trouble flared in the Smethwick End.
Police had to move in and several fans were escorted from the ground by police, who moved in to quell a disturbance among away fans.
To add to their problems furious Brum fans also sang “F*** the EFL” and let off a blue smoke-bomb during last night’s derby defeat by West Brom.
Their raging supporters turned the air Blues with a foul-mouthed rant at League bosses after Gary Gardner’s booming header gave Garry Monk’s men the perfect start after seven minutes.
That early breakthrough briefly allowed bitter Brum fans to stick two fingers up to EFL chiefs who had docked their team nine points last week for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.
The punishment plunged Monk’s men into a relegation battle as they tumbled five places from 13th to 18th – just five points off the drop zone.
However for much of this derby it seemed to put fire in the bellies of every Blues player as they made it clear they were ready to scrap for their survival.
However Baggies battled back in a dramatic second half to snatch three hard-earned points – leaving Blues to suffer a FIFTH successive defeat… To mark their worst run of results under Monk.
Yet early on Albion didn’t know what had hit them as they were pinned back from the start by raging Birmingham players who seemed hell-bent on taking out their frustrations on their rivals.
Connor Mahoney was first to threaten after five minutes as he cut in from the right and Sam Johnstone nervously pawed away his low shot at his near post to concede a corner.
Mahoney took the flag kick himself and when his deep corner was headed back across goal Harlee Dean’s shot was deflected over for another corner.
This time Mahoney signalled to his teammates his delivery was going straight into the mixer and Gary Gardner bustled his way past his marker Chris Brunt to power his header down into the turf and it bounced beyond Johnstone into the top corner.
PITCH INVADER SHAME
Dean was booked for a sly trip on Conor Townsend before Maxime Colin defended brilliantly to throw himself in front of Jay Rodriguez as the striker prepared to pull the trigger in front of goal.
Not content with that, Colin then rode two tackles from bewildered Baggies players before calmly clearing his lines.
Albion were rattled and Dawson was booked for a foul on Lukas Jutkiewicz and only a desperate back post block from Ahmed Hegazi on Che Adams prevented the striker adding a second.
Yet promotion chasing Baggies almost levelled on the stroke of half time when Dwight Gayle soared to meet Brunt’s corner but the ball flew off his shoulder and over.
Albion caretaker boss Jimmy Shan had seen enough and sent on Hal Robson-Kanu for out of touch midfielder James Morrison at half-time as he tried to maintain his 100 per cent start.
This time it was his side who exploded out of the traps at the start of the second half.
Birmingham’s Kristian Pedersen was booked for pulling down Mason Holgate and it proved to be a costly foul as Albion cashed in from the free kick.
Brunt swept the ball in and Gayle wriggled free of David Davis to head beyond Lee Camp for his 17th goal of the season.
However Blues bit back 12 minutes later to regain the lead and spark mayhem among their fans.
Again Albion failed to deal with a set piece as Mahoney’s corner was met by Jutkiewicz who rag-dolled Jay Rodriguez to head home his 11th goal of the season – and his first for 21 games.
In the frenzied celebrations one Blues fan got on to the pitch and had to be restrained by stewards, while another was felled on his way to the field.
Stewards and police moved into the Blues section of the Smethwick End.
It was the last thing Brum needed after the shameful attack on Jack Grealish at St Andrew’s on March 10.
But worse was to follow as their team buckled to concede two goals in a frantic nine minute spell as Albion seized control.
The home side hauled themselves level again from the penalty spot after Mahoney slid in to send Townsend toppling right on the line of the Blues penalty box.
Ref David Webb pointed to the spot and Rodriguez expertly sent Camp the wrong way to level this high-octane derby with his 19th goal of the season.
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Albion smelled blood and with 16 minutes remaining they struck a killer third with a stunning strike from Jake Livermore.
Craig Dawson’s route one ball from defence had Blues in a panic and when both Dean and Davis failed to clear their lines with headers Livermore arrived to smash home a stunning half-volley.
Camp got his fingers to the ball but was helpless to keep it out as Baggies made it three wins on the spin under new boss Shan to pile the pressure on their promotion rivals.
