Birmingham‘s Craig Gardner secured a Carling Cup final match against Arsenal, as his goal in extra time clinched a 3-1 victory over West Ham in the semi-final second leg, resulting in a 4-3 aggregate win.
Gardner, who grew up a fervent Birmingham supporter, capped off a remarkable comeback from Alex McLeish’s team, now looking forward to a match against the Gunners at Wembley on February 27, marking their first League Cup final in a decade.
At St. Andrew’s, West Ham had taken a 3-1 aggregate lead when Carlton Cole scored midway through the first half, following a 2-1 win in the first leg at Upton Park.
David Sullivan and David Gold, co-owners of West Ham who previously owned Birmingham, must have envisioned Wembley as they viewed the match from home.
However, former West Ham player Lee Bowyer equalized for Birmingham, a team that last won a trophy in this competition back in 1963. His efforts were followed by a header from Roger Johnson, sending the match into extra time and paving the way for Gardner to strike against the Hammers.
In light of Scott Dann’s injury, McLeish granted a rare start to central defender Martin Jiranek, while West Ham missed suspended strikers Victor Obinna and Frederic Piquionne.
Despite these absences, West Ham started strong and nearly caught Birmingham off guard with a swift counter-attack, as Mark Noble’s impressive pass set Zavon Hines on a run towards goal. Yet, Ben Foster was perfectly positioned to block Hines’ shot from a wide angle, having earlier erred and conceded the second goal to West Ham in the first leg.
Cole wasted a chance to extend West Ham’s lead when he fired wide from inside the box after receiving a long ball from Matthew Upson.
The breakthrough for West Ham came with flair in the 31st minute.
Cole was given ample time and space to attempt a long-range shot, which he executed flawlessly as it rocketed past Foster into the net.
It could have spiraled further downhill for Birmingham when Johnson was fortunate that his deflection of a shot only struck the outside of the post.
Changing tactics, McLeish introduced Nikola Zigic for Derbyshire at halftime, sparking a revival in Birmingham’s performance.
In the 53rd minute, Gardner came close to equalizing, his shot striking the inside of the post and narrowly avoiding crossing the line. A header from Liam Ridgewell, off a corner from Sebastian Larsson, required a sprawling save from Green.
Birmingham found hope in the 59th minute when Bowyer scored with a well-executed half-volley from another Larsson corner that wasn’t cleared.
West Ham began to falter, with Green managing to deflect a shot from Barry Ferguson that went through a group of players.
Green spectacularly tipped over a header from Cameron Jerome following another Larsson corner, but after 79 minutes, Johnson drew Birmingham level with a powerful header from Bowyer’s cross.
Jerome had a clear opportunity to clinch the win for City in normal time, yet Green smothered his low shot. In the dying moments before extra-time, Gardner hit the post once more.
But after 94 minutes, Gardner’s determination paid off as his swerving shot from 25 yards slipped past Green into the corner of the net.
With Kieron Dyer of West Ham missing a volley from a favorable position, Birmingham was able to relish their return to Wembley.
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