Yorkshire Evening Post 27/10/11
Zigic strikes to give Whites the blues
By Phil Hay
As games in hand go, Simon Grayson admitted he could think of easier than a visit to St Andrews. His caution was borne out by Leeds United’s loss to Birmingham City but it will feel today like an self-inflicted wound.
Birmingham’s record at home before last night showed no defeats in four leagues matches and only one goal conceded, creating no shame in a defeat on their turf.
Leeds succumbed as three other Championship sides had before them but their manager could not pass off the result as inevitable or deserved.
Grayson’s players fell to a 35th minute goal from Nikola Zigic, claimed with little effort or guile in a first half when United gave as good as they got and were running Birmingham’s clean sheet close.
Their promising display floundered when Zigic swallowed up a weak parry from goalkeeper Paul Rachubka and stretched a net which had been largely unthreatened in the previous half-hour.
At a stroke, his finish ended United’s seven-match unbeaten run and denied the club the chance to establish a three-way tie for second place in the Championship with West Ham United and Middlesbrough.
Grayson claimed on Monday that he would worry about the table in April and May, rather than at the tail end of October, but it was not the same as saying that the loss of attainable points was a good idea or in any way helpful.
A draw was the least on offer at St Andrews before Zigic took an open invitation.
The defeat that came instead represented a disappointing start to a sequence of four games which will demonstrate whether United’s league position is an accurate reflection of their potential.
Leeds proved as competitive as they had been during Saturday’s win at Peterborough United, a game in which they were constrained by a noticeable lack of width before the second-half appearance of Lloyd Sam.
In answer to that concern, Grayson recalled Robert Snodgrass at St Andrews.
The winger was free from the back spasms which prevented his selection at London Road and he reclaimed his place from Mika Vayrynen who dropped to a bench containing Sam, Luciano Becchio, Patrick Kisnorbo and goalkeeper Alex Cairns.
Grayson found no space in his squad for Mikael Forssell on the Finn’s return to his former club.
Birmingham started with a two-man strikeforce of Zigic and Marlon King – City’s answer to Darren Ferguson from the point of view of United’s merciless travelling support – and unexpectedly named nine-goal Chris Wood among their substitutes.
It proved an astute decision by manager Chris Hughton who saw the better performances among his side come from that pair.
King took less than two minutes to cause trouble, cutting through a risky sliding tackle from Adam Clayton inside United’s box and attacking Paul Rachubka with a shot which Tom Lees turned behind before it could reach the keeper.
King’s was a isolated opening in the initial stages but it became clear early on that Birmingham’s run of five successive victories before yesterday’s meeting was the product of a slick, confident style. Their defence, however, was almost caught cold in the 11th minute when Leeds cut City open with a hopeful long ball and gave Snodgrass the sort of opportunity he would have expected to take.
Danny Pugh fed Andy Keogh’s downward header to Ross McCormack who stood 18 yards from goal and in a position to shoot.
He chose instead to set up Snodgrass for a finish which slipped past Boaz Myhill and wide of his far post.
The game opened up quickly after that near-miss and Jonathan Spector saw a cross from Chris Burke swing beyond him six yards from goal after Zigic guided a dropping ball behind United left-back Aidan White.
Zigic’s height and ability in the air was a constant problem, limited though City’s opportunities were.
United themselves threatened in spells, sending Snodgrass into Birmingham’s box once more in the 22nd minute after the hosts surrendered possession to McCormack inside their own half. Snodgrass’ attempt to beat Myhill was blocked by the foot of Curtis Davies.
Clayton, in contrast, thought he had beaten Birmingham’s keeper two minutes later when he struck the rebound from a Snodgrass cross with a goalbound volley, but Myhill reacted brilliantly to turn the ball over his crossbar with one, solid hand.
He came under pressure again almost instantly as Tom Lees steered a long pass McCormack and Steven Caldwell diverted the ball behind as United’s leading scorer looked to drive it into the net, and there was enough in those chances to persuade Leeds against settling for a point.
But after Myhill smothered a long-range strike from Snodgrass, Grayson’s players succumbed to the opening goal in unflattering fashion on 35 minutes.
City’s right-back, Stephen Carr, broke towards the byline after a loose pass from Keogh and produced a cross which Rachubka palmed out to Zigic. The Serbian controlled the ball before driving it into the net with the aid of a deflection, sucking the wind from United’s sails.
Rachubka’s role in the concession was debatable but he kept Leeds in touch in first-half injury-time by using a leg to divert Zigic’s finish away from goal after King chested the ball into space inside United’s box. The interval arrived at a convenient time for Grayson.
Scraped
Hughton might have felt differently but his players did not miss a beat on the resumption of play and Chris Burke scraped Rachubka’s side-netting at the start of the second half. Snodgrass replied in kind soon after, lashing a strike over the bar from all of 30 yards. Becchio’s call to arms came in the 63rd minute, thrown on as a replacement for Keogh, but he saw no useful possession for all that Leeds saw much of the ball.
Hughton refreshed his own strikeforce by sending Wood on in place of King as Grayson brought Sam and Vayrynen into the fray, and Myhill denied McCormack with another breathtaking save before Vayrynen headed a cross from Sam high over the bar.
Rachubka played his part by keeping out a Wood finish spectacularly but, on this occasion, five minutes of injury-time offered Leeds nothing more.

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