Given gets City out of tight spot

FA PREMIER LEAGUE:Birmingham 0 Manchester City 0. MANCHESTER CITY'S season has turned into a grind.

Four successive league draws have applied the brakes to their early momentum and, in the process, provided a reminder of just how far Mark Hughes’s side have to travel before they can be considered title contenders.

For the first time in nine matches, the visitors kept a clean sheet, although Birmingham City’s failure to score owed little to the Manchester City back four and everything to Shay Given.

Amid the glittering array of attacking talent assembled at Eastlands, it is easy to forget the €7.8million that was spent on the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper in January. On days like this, however, Given looks like the best signing Hughes has made.

The save he made from a penalty to prevent James McFadden putting Birmingham ahead in the 56th minute was the most crucial but his contribution was excellent throughout on an afternoon when City made little impression.

Unable to retain possession for any period because of Birmingham’s high-tempo approach, the visitors never found any fluency and, at times, struggled to contain the threat of a side whose tally of eight goals from 11 matches makes them the Premier League’s lowest scorers. A combination of the woodwork, Given’s heroics and Birmingham’s profligacy meant that City escaped with a point. The bigger picture, though, is that City have won one of their last six in the league.

That statistic does not make for comfortable reading, even if Hughes tried to apply a positive sheen by highlighting that three of the four draws have come away from home. He did not, however, make any attempt to paper over the cracks of a disappointing performance in which the midfield triumvirate of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry were subdued and the trio in front of them, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy, threatened only sporadically. Given, in contrast, was outstanding.

“Shay played very well,” said the City manager. “Saving the penalty and other key moments kept us in the game. We found the game itself a struggle. We didn’t impose ourselves for a considerable time. But credit to Birmingham. They chased everything down and made it uncomfortable for us to play the game we wanted to play. At times we possibly got sucked into the game that they wanted to play.”

Birmingham worked tirelessly and took the game to City during a first half in which Given made four decent saves. Christian Benitez was denied twice in the space of a couple of minutes, his first shot tipped onto the post, via a deflection off Vincent Kompany, and the second attempt smothered as Given dived at his feet.

Then came the penalty kick after De Jong, jumping alongside Sebastian Larsson, raised his hand to gain leverage but succeeded only in making contact with the ball. A breakthrough beckoned but Given read McFadden’s intentions and, with the ball struck at reasonable height, was able to save.

• Guardian Service