Birmingham in Cup final; Liverpool win
Published:Thursday | January 27, 2011 | 12:00 AM
LONDON (AP):
Birmingham rallied to beat West Ham 3-1 after extra time yesterday and set up a meeting with Arsenal in the League Cup final, while Liverpool climbed to seventh in the English Premier League by edging past Fulham 1-0.
Craig Gardner was the match winner for Birmingham in a dramatic semi-final second leg at St Andrew's, firing home from 25 yards in the fourth minute of extra time to earn the Midlands club a 4-3 aggregate win and a trip to Wembley.
"It's unbelievable, you dream of these things," Gardner said. "I was saying to my mates I wanted to get the winner to take us there, and to do it was unbelievable."
Carlton Cole scored a stunning goal in the 31st to put West Ham 3-1 up in the two-leg series, but Birmingham took the game into extra time, thanks to second-half goals by Lee Bowyer and Roger Johnson.
The Blues, whose only major trophy came when they won the League Cup in 1963, will be underdogs when they play Arsenal on February 27.
Arsenal qualified for the final by beating second-tier side Ipswich 3-0 in the second leg of their semi-final, winning 3-1 on aggregate.
A 53rd-minute own goal by Ghana defender John Pantsil gave Liverpool a narrow win at Anfield to maintain the team's resurgence under new manager Kenny Dalglish.