LONDON: Birmingham City beat Aston Villa 2-1 in a Midlands derby and Roy Keane's struggling Ipswich Town upset West Bromwich Albion 1-0 to reach the League Cup semifinals Wednesday. The match at St. Andrews was heading for extra time until Birmingham's Serbian striker Nikola Zigic latched on to a low cross to grab the 84th-minute winner against last year's beaten finalist. A 69th-minute penalty by Grant Leadbitter was enough to send Championship (second division) Ipswich, reeling from four straight league defeats including a 4-1 loss to local rivals Norwich, through at a cold and wet Portman Road. Premier League tail-ender West Ham United thrashed holders Manchester United 4-0 Tuesday and Arsenal, now the clear favorite for the trophy, saw off Wigan Athletic 2-0. Birmingham took the lead against the run of play with a 12th-minute penalty after Lee Bowyer was bundled to the ground by Richard Dunne. Sebastian Larsson slotted home from the spot but his strike was canceled out in the 30th by Gabriel Agbonlahor, returning from illness, moments after a strike by Zigic was ruled offside. The defeat was a bitter blow to Villa's French manager Gerard Houllier, who won the cup twice as Liverpool coach. Birmingham fans, celebrating their first appearance in the last four in 10 seasons, invaded the pitch after the final whistle. Birmingham fans then ran onto the field and threw flares at rival supporters in violent scenes following their team's League Cup quarterfinal win over Aston Villa. Villa supporters then ripped up seats and threw them onto the St. Andrews pitch. Wednesday's violence was reminiscent of that which marred English football through the 1970s and 1980s. Mourinho banned Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has been banned for one Champions League match for instructing players to get deliberate red cards so they could serve suspensions in a meaningless game. Mourinho was also fined $51,990 for instructing Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos to get sent off against Ajax last week. Alonso and Ramos were fined $25,990. They are already suspended from Real's next group match, against Auxerre on Dec. 8, but are free to play in the next round. Madrid is already sure of winning Group G. Mourinho was also given a further one-match suspension to be imposed if he is found guilty within the next three years of what UEFA calls “improper conduct.” SPL games put off All of this Saturday's six matches in the Scottish Premier League (SPL) have been postponed because of the cold snap that has hit much of Britain. That means there will be no action at all in the 12-club SPL this weekend, with Saturday's fixtures between Aberdeen and Celtic, Hibernian and St Mirren, Inverness and Dundee United, Motherwell and Kilmarnock, Rangers and Hearts and St. Johnstone and Hamilton all having to be rescheduled for a later date. An SPL statement read: “In light of the severe weather conditions across Scotland, which are forecast to continue for some time, all Clydesdale Bank Premier League games have been postponed this Saturday, Dec. 4. It is hoped that this early notice of postponement will allow everyone to plan accordingly. New dates for the fixtures will be announced in due course.”
