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Full Time After Extra Time This is a live match. Extra Time Half Time

Fulham vs Birmingham City. Premier League.

Craven CottageAttendance21,758.

Fulham 2

  • D Duff (59th minute)
  • B Zamora (91st minute)

Birmingham City 1

  • C Baird (3rd minute own goal)

Zamora stunner sinks Blues

Image: Zamora: Bagged Fulham winner

Bobby Zamora popped up with a dramatic late winner to give Fulham a 2-1 win over Birmingham at Craven Cottage.

Second screamer of the week from striker hands Cottagers victory

Bobby Zamora's last minute free-kick earned Fulham a 2-1 win over Birmingham in an entertaining game at Craven Cottage. The striker curled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the box just before the final whistle to earn his side a dramatic victory, punishing Stephen Carr's foul on Zoltan Gera as the game looked to be heading for a draw. Earlier, Chris Baird headed past his own goalkeeper in the third minute to hand Birmingham an early lead, with James McFadden hitting the underside of the bar for the Blues via the fingertips of Mark Schwarzer. Damien Duff levelled the scores after the interval with a superb solo strike, before Zamora stepped up his bid to earn a call-up to the England squad with his 15th goal of the season. Just four days earlier, Zamora snared the vital goal in the Europa League win over Shakhtar, hitting a 25-yard thunderbolt to earn his side the advantage going into the second leg. And the 29-year-old was lethal from similar distance as Birmingham undid all the hard work which had got them in a position to take home a well-deserved point.

Terrible blunder

With both clubs in mid-table and closing in on the critical 40-point mark, Sunday's contest was about little more than having a say in who would get there first. It looked like Birmingham would have that honour when Baird handed them the lead in the third minute after his embarrassing own goal. The Northern Ireland defender tried making amends by setting up a good chance for Simon Davies only for keeper Joe Hart to come to Birmingham's rescue. Gera almost connected with a hanging cross from Duff and was then blocked by Carr as Fulham pressed for an equaliser. Danny Murphy expertly weaved his way into the area but was brought to an abrupt stop by Scott Dann and shortly after Davies nodded a superb cross from Gera straight at Hart. Birmingham were content to hit Fulham on the counter, a tactic that was yielding some success. Sebastian Larsson had a shot blocked by Dickson Etuhu but more action was taking place at the other end with Zamora hurling himself at two crosses. Davies failed to connect cleanly with a clever pass from Murphy, giving Hart time to react.
Dazzling
Zamora was applauded for a dazzling piece of skill that saw him expertly control the ball, which he then slipped between his legs before pirouetting away from Bowyer. The former West Ham marksman fired a well-struck shot from long range but it just lacked the power to really trouble Hart. Cameron Jerome scuffed a half-chance straight to Schwarzer and in the 57th minute Birmingham were lucky to escape a penalty after Dann clearly handled the ball. But the equaliser eventually arrived in the 60th minute with Duff driving home a brilliant goal that came just moments after he had been hacked down twice by clumsy challenges. He weaved his way infield and linked with Gera before taking the return pass and pulling the trigger on a shot that struck the left post and cannoned in. Only the fingertips of Schwarzer prevented Birmingham from retaking the lead as the Fulham keeper tipped a blistering shot from McFadden onto the underside of the crossbar with the ball then bouncing down and out. The game was growing increasingly ragged with Zamora breaking free but taking the wrong option - before completing a dramatic finale. Gera was felled by an outrageous bodycheck from Carr and Zamora thumped home the free-kick in the 90th minute to clinch victory.
Fulham Team Statistics Birmingham City
2 Goals 1
0 1st Half Goals 1
6 Shots on Target 4
6 Shots off Target 2
1 Blocked Shots 4
3 Corners 1
10 Fouls 17
2 Offsides 0
1 Yellow Cards 1
0 Red Cards 0
72.6 Passing Success 59.4
17 Tackles 19
76.5 Tackles Success 89.5
56.9 Possession 43.1
43 Territorial Advantage 57

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