Lee Bowyer's first goal this season condemned Chelsea to a fourth defeat in 14 Premier League outings
Chelsea crashed to a second successive English Premier League defeat for the first time in four years on Saturday, allowing Manchester United to draw level on points with the leaders.
The defending champions, beaten 3-0 at home by Sunderland last weekend, lost to lowly Birmingham for the first time since the Premier League's inception in 1992 thanks to a rare goal from the home side's veteran midfielder Lee Bowyer.
The 33-year-old, who last found the net almost a year ago, scored against the run of play in the 17th minute after striker Cameron Jerome headed Sebastian Larsson's right-wing cross into his path.
Chelsea surged forward in search of an equalizer, but Ben Foster pulled off a series off superb saves as the goalkeeper bounced back from his uncertain performance in England's 2-1 midweek defeat by France.
The closest the Londoners came to scoring was seven minutes before halftime, when striker Didier Drogba headed against the crossbar.
It was another blow for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who lost his assistant Ray Wilkins last week when the former England midfielder's contract was not renewed -- and the Italian revealed on Friday that he had no say in the promotion of scout Michael Emenalo to replace him.
"We played good football, had a lot of chances, but we lost. It is a difficult moment but we don't have to lose confidence," Ancelotti told the club's website.
"I was really disappointed with the performance against Sunderland, but this is different -- just with the result."
Read more:http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/11/20/football.chelsea.manchester.united.tottenham/index.html
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