Toothless Birmingham draw another blank against fellow strugglers QPR

Posted Sunday, September 02, 2018 by PA

Birmingham failed dismally to drag themselves out of the doldrums after being held to a goalless home draw by QPR.

As a result they are still seeking their first win of the season as they struggled to find the spark to give them lift-off.

The Blues’ finishing power left a great deal to be desired as a rapidly improving Rangers side collected another valuable point which promises a brighter future for the London outfit.

Eberechi Eze and Luke Freeman emerged as potential match winners and often proved troublesome to a seemingly insecure Birmingham defence.

Although the early exchanges favoured Birmingham the home side were fortunate in the ninth minute when their skipper Michael Morrison became entangled with Nakhi Wells and brought down the Rangers’ striker in the penalty area, only to escape without any punishment.

This incident appeared to inspire QPR into an attacking mode which put more pressure on the home team, who experienced several anxious moments keeping their clean sheet intact.

Tomer Hemed, who was on the mark on his debut a week ago, was a threat and went close to opening Rangers’ account but failed to make a clean contact with a right wing cross.

The visitors certainly played with more confidence than on their recent visit to the West Midlands when they were hammered 7-1 by West Brom.

Eze, in particular, grew in stature to play an important role in a Rangers side who looked more dangerous, highlighted when kipper Toni Leistner aimlessly headed a Luke Freeman free-kick over the bar.

Eze demonstrated his potential danger with a couple of powerful shots as the youngster stepped up a gear in a niggling sort of match.

Birmingham struggled to find an attacking rhythm and Jota took a long time to get into the game as a real threat.

As a result Birmingham became seriously disjointed and allowed Rangers to mount several promising attacks. On one occasion Hemed cut in and fired a low shot which forced Lee Camp to make a smart save early in the second period.

Freeman had a better opportunity of giving Rangers the lead only to fire straight at Camp from just inside the penalty area.

It was a dangerous period for Birmingham and caused considerable concern with their inability to gain the upper hand.

With only four goals from their previous five games, Birmingham’s problem was again clearly evident, as they failed dismally to really test goalkeeper Joe Lumley on a single occasion.