Newcastle 2 Birmingham 1

Birmingham's battle for Premier League survival will rumble on after 10-man Blues lost at Newcastle.

Alex McLeish's side had to play for almost an hour a man down after Liam Ridgewell was sent off for a deliberate handball in the area, which allowed Shola Ameobi to open the scoring from the penalty spot.

Steven Taylor doubled the home side's lead seven minutes later, but Lee Bowyer halved the deficit in the final minute of the half to give his team a lifeline.

Blues started the day four points above the relegation zone, but just two of the club's eight wins so far this season have come away from home.

Possibly with this in mind, boss McLeish opted for a conservative 4-5-1 formation for the third straight away game, making two changes from the 1-1 draw with Wolves last Sunday.

Midfielder Keith Fahey came in for suspended top scorer Craig Gardner following his red card last weekend, while winger Jean Beausejour was favoured in place of striker Kevin Phillips.

Cameron Jerome was given the unenviable task of playing the lone striker role up front.

Nontheless, Jerome received his first chance of the game 12 minutes in, flashing a shot wide of the left-hand post from Barry Ferguson's adapt pass.

At the other end, Joey Barton forced a fine save from goalkeeper Ben Foster five minutes later with a fizzing long-range effort which was dipping into the bottom right-hand corner.

Sebastian Larsson then dragged an effort of goal but Newcastle took the lead through Ameobi's 36th minute penalty. after Ridgewell was judged to have handled Kevin Nolan's shot on the line.

Peter Lovenkrands could have made it 2-0 less than three minutes later after a fine dummy from Joey Barton, but Foster made the save.

Jonas Gutierrez then flashed an effort wide of the right hand post and Foster pushed Nolan's effort round the post, but Steven Taylor doubled the home side's lead from Barton's corner two minutes before half-time.

The game looked as good as over at this point, but LBowyer grabbed his team a lifeline in the final minute of the half, smashing home from Jerome's rebound.

Jose Enrique and Ameobi both missed the target for the home side early in the second-half, as Newcastle looked to take further advantage of their numerical advantage.

But Blues managed to subdue their opponents going forward, albeit without creating much at the other end, in a competitive but unspectacular second-half.

Lovenkrands was replaced by Nile Ranger with 19 minutes remaining to liven up Newcastle's forward line, as the home side hunted a killer third goal.

Bowyer was then booked for a rash challenge on Cheik Tiote and Nolan saw his header saved by Foster from Barton's free kick.

Martin Jiranek was also booked three minutes later for a foul on Ranger befor Blues brought on a second striker with 13 minutes remaining, swapping Keith Fahey for Matt Derbyshire.

Larsson then drilled over the bar nine minutes from time, after Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul had dropped the ball but Blues appeared to noticeably tire in the final minutes.

Tiote, Jerome and Larsson were both booked late on as the game became ragged but the home side managed to see out the remaining time for a victory which effectively confirms their own Premier League survival – while Blues' fate remains in the balance.