Mid-table obscurity was the height of Birmingham's ambitions at the start of the season but with a place in the Europa League still a possibility going into this game manager Alex McLeish warned his players not to let their season fizzle out. But they began without spark here and Everton nearly blew them away.
Steven Pienaar and Tim Cahill had already forced fine saves from Joe Hart before the visitors took the lead in the 19th minute, when Victor Anichebe received a Phil Neville pass just inside the area with his back to goal, then spun past Liam Ridgewell and rifled the ball into the top corner.
Before Birmingham could come up with a response they fell further behind as Pienaar chipped a ball to the back post and Yakubu nodded into the net.
Belatedly came a reply from the home side, along with a dollop of good luck. Cameron Jerome did little more than graze Keith Fahey's cross with his laces but that was enough to confound the Everton defence and the ball hurtled through Phil Jagielka's legs and beyond goalkeeper Tim Howard.
That uplifted the Blues. They became more energetic and assertive in midfield and stretched Everton regularly, but a long-range bobbler from Christian Benítez was all they sent by way of shots in the remainder of the first half, and Howard collected that comfortably.
Within seven minutes of the restart Birmingham's comeback was complete thanks to a goal of simple conception. Hart launched a goal-kick downfield, Jerome headed it on and Craig Gardner struck a low first-time shot into the net from the edge of the area.
The teams took turns to press for victory after that but chances were scarce. Everton created the best of them, but after surging from deep in the 74th minute, Cahill shot straight at Hart. So the sides shared the points, a result that split the managers. "To come back from two goals down against a team of Everton's quality is a terrific achievement," McLeish said. "We started sluggishly but we woke up and that is typical of the resilience we've shown this season. It's going to be tough but Europe is still attainable."
David Moyes was more miffed. "We let them off the hook," he said. "Credit to Birmingham for coming back but we should have had more goals in the first half. We've a long way to catch up for Europe."
THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT
PAUL RIVERS, Observer reader Bouncebackability was definitely the word of the day. We were abject in the first 25 minutes and I never saw us bouncing back, but the first goal changed everything. They had three very clear penalty shouts, but in the second half we started to play and it became a very entertaining game. Before our first goal, we were second to every ball and gave them far too much space, but all of sudden it was like a light was switched on. Ridgewell was excellent and offered the wide attacking option that was lacking in the team. We're a very resilient side - Alex McLeish has made us a very hard team to beat.
The fan's player ratings Hart 8; Carr 7, Johnson 8, Dann 7, Ridgewell 8; Gardner 7 (Larsson 59 7), Ferguson 8, Bowyer 6, Fahey 7; Jerome 8; Benítez 5 (McFadden 72 n/a)
JOE JENNINGS, SOS1878.co.uk It was a strange result and to lose two goals in the way we did was totally demoralising. We seemed to lose all composure after their first goal went in. This was a poor Birmingham side and we didn't have the belief to take advantage. For the first 25 minutes we did the simple things well and kept it on the carpet, but when they scored we resorted to the long ball, which is totally unacceptable. If you look at the quality of our players, we should be taking teams like Birmingham to the cleaners. Moyes should have gone out to get another goal, but instead it was inevitable they were going to score and maybe even snatch it.
The fan's player ratings Howard 5; Neville 4, Jagielka 6, Distin 4, Baines 6; Heitinga 6; Cahill 5 (Rodwell 76 6), Arteta 7, Pienaar 7; Yakubu 6 (Donovan 67 6); Anichebe 7 (Gosling 79 6)
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