Reds suffer the Blues

Liverpool suffered more away day blues after a 2-0 defeat at Birmingham.

Liverpool missed the chance to close the gap on Everton after suffering a 2-0 defeat at Birmingham.

First half goals from Walter Pandiani (penalty) and Julian Gray were enough to give Steve Bruce's men a deserved win and leave Liverpool trailing Everton by five points in the race for a UEFA Champions League place.

Pandiani had the first opportunity of the game on ten minutes when, at full stretch, he volleyed Jermaine Pennant's cross wide of the target.

Liverpool were struggling to create any clear goalscoring opportunities, but Jamie Clapham got in a vital tackle on 15 minutes to deny Fernando Morientes getting on the end of Steven Gerrard's cross.

The home side suffered a blow two minutes later when Mario Melchiot failed to shake off an earlier knock and was forced to be replaced by Olivier Tebily

Morientes fashioned a chance for himself out of nothing on the half hour when he somehow worked his way past two challenges and fired in a shot straight at Maik Taylor.

Pennant wasted a great opening on 33 minutes when he raced clear on goal, but Jerzy Dudek stood up big to keep out his shot with his arm.

Birmingham were handed the chance to break the deadlock on 38 minutes when referee Howard Webb awarded them a penalty after adjudging that Sami Hyypia had wrestled former team-mate Emile Heskey to the ground inside the box.

Pandiani made no mistake from the spot rifling his shot past Dudek to give Birmingham a deserved lead.

Riise fluffed a great chance to draw Liverpool level minutes later when he ghosted into the box unmarked to meet Steve Finnan's cross, but he got his attempted header all wrong much to the delight of the home fans.

Birmingham doubled their lead right on the stroke of half time with Gray netting his first goal for the club.

Djimi Traore made a mess of a clearance giving the ball to Pennant and the on-loan winger wasted no time in sending a dangerous cross to the far post for Gray to volley high into the net.

Liverpool introduced Vladimir Smicer at the start of the second half in place of the ineffective Igor Biscan, but the visitors continued to struggle to make any headway.

Hyypia got in vital header to prevent Gray's inviting cross reaching Heskey as Birmingham continued to call the tune in the second half.

The subdued Milan Baros wasted a chance for Liverpool on 70 minutes when he dragged a shot from the edge of the box well wide.

Liverpool tried to force their way back into the contest, but Taylor was never troubled in the Birmingham goal.

Liverpool's miserable day was summed up in the dying minutes when Smicer spooned a volley well over the crossbar after being teed up by Traore.

Jamie Carragher was denied a goal back for Liverpool in the last seconds when Damien Johnson kicked his header off the line from Gerrard's corner.

Click on fixture for player ratings
Birmingham v Liverpool

Birmingham City	Team Name	Liverpool
2	Goals	0
2	Shots on target ( Inc Goals )	1
2	Shots off Target (inc woodwork)	4
2	Blocked Shots	1
10	Corners Won	4
16	Total Fouls Conceded	11
7	Offsides	2
2	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
51%	Possession	49%