Premier League side Birmingham City came from behind late on to snatch a barely-deserved place in the third round of the Carling Cup after Adam Lallana had given Saints the lead.
Alan Pardew was forced into two changes, with new signings Neal Trotman and Dean Hammond cup-tied, having played in the first round for Preston and Colchester respectively. Marek Saganowski was also brought in in place of Matt Paterson up front, and Morgan Schneiderlin was rested, with Graeme Murty returning at right-back and Lloyd James playing alongside Paul Wotton in the centre of midfield.
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish made a number of changes, giving former Saints keeper Maik Taylor a game between the sticks as well as first starts for Ecuadorian duo Christian Benitez and Giovanny Espinoza. Gary McSheffrey also got a rare run-out for the Blues.
Saints were quick out of the blocks against their more illustrious opponents, with Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and James heavily involved. James had an effort from the edge of the area fly over the bar, and Lambert and Lallana combined well down the left to free Saganowski but his shot was well saved by Taylor.
Saints should have had a penalty on 20 minutes when some one-touch passing between James, Wotton and Lallana found Dan Harding overlapping - his pass found Saganowski with his back to goal where he was clearly bundled over by Franck Queudrue, but the referee waved play on, and Wotton’s shot from distance went wide of goal.
The visitors then woke themselves from their slumber as Benitez managed to wriggle free from Chris Perry and unleashed a shot from the edge of the area that cannoned back off the post. McSheffrey was on hand in the centre of goal to seemingly put the Blues in front but the ball bounced up awkwardly and at pace and he only succeeded in finding the upper rows of the Chapel Stand.
Wotton was booked for a cynical foul from behind on Benitez, and from the resulting free-kick, Davis pulled off a fine save to his right to tip the ball round the post for a corner.
Just before half-time, Saints had another penalty shout. Harding again made the overlapping run past Stuart Parnaby, who was being given a torrid time, and his cross seemed perfect for Lambert to throw himself at, but he got a blatant shove from Espinoza. Once again, though, the referee completely bottled it.
Half-Time: Saints 0-0 Birmingham City
Birmingham made a change at half-time, bringing on James McFadden for the fairly anonymous Jay O’Shea, but it didn’t seem to be stemming the tide of Saints attacks, and eventually the pressure paid dividends. Saganowski did well to dispossess Sebastien Larsson 25 yards from goal, with the ball falling kindly for Lallana on the edge of the area, and he hit a curling shot into the top corner, leaving Taylor no chance.
The confidence that has been missing for much of the last couple of years seemed to come flooding back into the Saints team, and another free-flowing move found Murty in space down the right, and his cross was just too high for the onrushing Lambert to keep down, his header flying over the bar.
The visitors made another change on the hour mark, replacing Larsson with Garry O’Connor, switching to a 4-3-3 formation to try to rescue a game that was slipping away from them pretty rapidly.
Saints’ momentum was dented quite sharply by a serious injury to Graeme Murty shortly afterwards, though. Once again the referee failed to spot a blatant foul by Steven Carr on Lallana - which left him with blood pouring from his eyebrow - and from the resulting Blues throw-in, Murty threw himself into a block on Lee Bowyer’s shot. He seemed to catch his studs in the turf and remained on the ground in agony. A number of minutes of treatment followed, and Murty was led away on a stretcher with his leg in splints.
This had a visible effect on the team and Birmingham started to see a lot more of the ball, particularly on their left. Lloyd James had slotted in at right-back with Simon Gillett coming on in the centre of midfield.
Blues skipper Lee Carsley had a couple of speculative efforts from distance, the first of which caused no bother but the second flew inches past Kelvin Davis’ right-hand post. It seemed as though the storm had been weathered when Saints carved out another great chance, Lambert’s clever flick found Jacob Mellis in space on the right and his fierce shot across goal was well saved by Taylor.
Defensive mistakes have littered the last few years for the Saints, and tonight was to prove no different with less than 15 minutes remaining. Wayne Thomas, who had otherwise had a fairly comfortable evening, gave Gillett a hospital pass 40 yards from goal, which Bowyer intercepted and laid the ball off to Benitez. Bowyer then made a good run behind Thomas, he was found by the Ecuadorian and lifted it over Davis into the far corner for a barely-deserved equaliser.
This knocked the stuffing out of the home team, and Birmingham seized their opportunity by turning the game on its head just three minutes later. Parnaby found himself in acres of space behind Dan Harding, and his pull-back found Lee Carsley on the penalty spot to strike third time lucky after his earlier two near misses. Davis got a hand to it, but the power and short distance meant he didn’t really have much chance with it.
Pardew made two changes, bringing Morgan Schneiderlin and Matt Paterson on for Paul Wotton and Marek Saganowski to give us some fresher legs, but the energy had been drained by those two quickfire goals from the visitors. Despite seven minutes of injury time, and a last-minute corner that saw Davis sprint from his own half, it came to nothing to leave the Blues in the hat for Saturday’s third round draw.
Full-Time: Saints 1-2 Birmingham City
Verdict: Without doubt the best performance of the season so far, against a team two divisions above us. There are plenty of positives to take out of tonight with Lloyd James’ performance in the centre of midfield giving Alan Pardew food for thought as the end of the transfer window approaches. Adam Lallana seems to reserve his best games for this competition as well, he just needs to transfer that into his league form and he’ll be a cracking player.
The main downside is the injury to Graeme Murty - it was clear that his absence left us short of organisation at the back, and with James having to switch to right-back, it meant we lost a bit of creativity in midfield as well. It appears Murty will be out for some time, so that may be a position Alan Pardew will be looking at strengthening in the remaining days before the transfer window closes.
