Coyle rates Birmingham defeat above United shock
Owen Coyle has hailed Burnley’s 2-1 win over Birmingham as a more
important result than his side’s shock 1-0 defeat of Manchester United.
The Premier League newcomers made it four wins out of four at Turf
Moor thanks to goals from Steven Fletcher and Andre Bikey, with
Sebastian Larsson’s consolation effort for Birmingham coming right at
the death.
Encounter
Coyle said the encounter with Alex McLeish’s side was exactly the
kind of match Burnley had to win if they are to preserve their hard-won
top flight status.
“Birmingham are one of the teams who are going to be in our group,”
Coyle said. “We are not getting carried away, we know exactly where we
are and where we expect to be.
“That is why, for me, it was the biggest result of the season. If we
can pick up points from the teams round about us that will serve us well
for the duration.
Fantastic
“The result against United was fantastic but I really believed we had
to answer up after a heavy defeat at Spurs last week. By retaining our
100 percent record at home, hopefully it sends out a message to people
that Turf Moor is not an easy place to come.”
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish lambasted his players for giving up
once they had fallen behind. “It was a second half to forget after they
scored,” the former Scotland boss complained. “Up to then I thought it
was anyone’s game and the first goal was going to be important. “We
didn’t react to the goal, we lost the way we have reacted in previous
games and that was disappointing. After that it was a poor
performance.”Lee Bowyer missed a great chance to put Blues ahead six
minutes from the break when he failed to finish in front of an open net
after Roger Johnson had dragged a shot across the goalmouth.
Hour mark
Fletcher made Birmingham pay for that miss just before the hour mark
with a shot that on-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart should have saved. Cameroon
defender Bikey then added a second after playing a one-two with David
Nugent and Larsson’s stoppage-time freekick came too late to offer any
chance of a comeback.
BURNLEY, England, AFP
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