MO-HO-HO TO OH, NO
Blues wipe the smile off Mowbray’s face
TONY MOWBRAY must have thought he was cruising to victory with his Blackburn side 2-0 up and little more than 10 minutes to go.
But then it all went wrong for Rovers as Birmingham c ame storming back with two goals of their own.
Garry Monk paid tribute to his City side’s spirit after they cancelled out a two- goal deficit with two in three second-half minutes at Ewood Park.
Rovers appeared on course for three points thanks to goals by Danny Graham, his eighth of the season, and Adam Armstrong, who doubled the lead seconds after half-time.
But a rash challenge from keeper David Raya on Maxime Colin saw Birmingham awarded a penalty which Craig Gardner converted.
Che Adams then swept home Lukas Jutkiewicz’s ball from close range to secure an unlikely point for City who are 10th, two places ahead of Rovers.
And Monk said: “It’s an excellent point in the end for us.
“It’s a fantastic response to being two down. It was poor from us in the first half especially.
“They did the basics much better than
us in the first half and we came in a goal down and we talked about it at half-time. To go out second half and concede again straight away doesn’t make it any easier.
“So to be two down you need character, you need attitude and you need to be able to show a response. And we did that.”
While it was Rovers’ sixth home draw of the season, they have lost just once in 31 league games at Ewood Park.
Monk’s pride at his side’s unlikely point contrasted with opposite number Mowbray ( left) who felt Blackburn had thrown away two points.
“We shot ourselves in the foot really,” he said. “To get yourself 2- 0 up going into the last 15 minutes and how we managed to drop two point s is amazing.
“But never mind. We have to accept it, be frustrated, know that we have to be better – that’s football.”