Game Report: Birmingham City 2-2 Peterborough

In what should have been a must-win game at home against a team in the relegation zone, Birmingham City narrowly averted an embarrassing loss.

The Blues fell behind early on a Jack Marriott goal in the 16th minute thanks to some very sloppy defending and were pretty much toothless for most of the game. They were outpossessed and outshot until late in the game, finishing with 50% possession and a 12-10 shooting advantage. However, Birmingham did not record a shot on goal until the 65th minute when substitute Gary Gardner forced a save. But just 2 minutes after that Marc Roberts pushed Callum Morton in the back to concede a penalty and Peterborough went up 2-0.

Things stayed that way until Gary Gardner again found the target, this time volleying a defensive header from just outside the box and defeating Peterborough’s  Steven-Andreas Benda. And 2 minutes after that the Blues drew level with a headed goal from the always reliable Scott Hogan.

The last 20 minutes plus 5 minutes of stoppage time were dominated by the Blues. Peterborough did not record a single shot during that period, and managed to give up what had been about 5% possession advantage to that point.

The result leaves both teams in unchanged positions in the table, although the Blues in 18th are only 6 points out of the top ten.