Match Report: Barnsley 1-2 Blues
A Jay Stansfield double secured victory for Birmingham City on a cold, wet and blustery afternoon at Oakwell.
Birmingham City made it four wins in a row in all competitions thanks to a Jay Stansfield brace at Oakwell.
This was a true winter EFL encounter with the wind swirling, pitch breaking up and neither side able to truly dominate proceedings.
It was Barnsley that took the lead when Stephen Humphrys powerful cross was put into his own net by Paik Seung-Ho but Jay Stansfield quickly responded with a howitzer and won the game via a set-piece after Adam Phillips saw red.
Davies was forced into two changes with Ethan Laird and Luke Harris replacing the suspended Keshi Anderson and ill Willum Willumson. Lyndon Dykes was also ill meaning Dion Sanderson and Brandon Khela returned to the matchday squad.
The game stopped almost as quickly as it started due to injury, Alex Cochrane kicking through the stud of Phillips leaving him with a hole in his boot and a bit of blood.
Blues had the first key moment, Jay Stansfield running through from halfway but being unable to keep the ball under control in the conditions giving Georgie Gent the chance to make a key challenge.
The first shot came from the hosts, Humphrys finding Phillips who miscued. At the other end, Alfie May’s teasing cross was shouldered on target by Ethan Laird.
Krystian Bielik was forced to make an excellent last-ditch challenge to deny Humphrys and the hosts had two more notable opportunities, Phillips sneaking a header on target at the near post and later testing the palms of Ryan Allsop from distance.
The Tyker started the second half the better and almost went ahead within a minute. A quick break was foiled thanks to Bielik’s block but from the resulting corner, Marc Roberts found Jonathan Russell only for the midfielder’s header to be cleared off the line by Paik.
Russell found Corey O’Keeffe in space down the right with Allsop making a meal of the stop and Phillips shot wide from distance a moment later.
The goal came just before the hour mark. Barnsley again escaped through the width provided by O’Keeffe and his pass in behind for Humphrys was perfectly weighted. The striker twisted and turned Ben Davies before hammering the ball across the six-yard box with Paik unable to sort his feet out.
Blues responded almost immediately. Phillips booted the ball in the air and Laird won the header. May found Stansfield first time with the loose ball and League One’s most expensive signing showed quick feet to beat Russell before firing into the net from 20 yards.
A strong spell followed from the visitors who dominated the ball and progressed higher up the pitch. And after showing leniency when O’Keeffe pulled back Laird, the ref gave a second yellow to Phillips for fouling the same man as he broke.
Darrell Clarke changed shape but Blues remained in the ascendancy as expected against ten and reaped their rewards when Paik’s delivery beat everybody to be nodded in by Stansfield at the back post to leave the 5k Blues fans in the away end jumping for joy.
The England under-21 international almost completed his hat-trick late on when Lukas Jutkiewicz and Marc Leonard combined to send him in behind but Ben Killip made a brave stop with his face,
Barnsley offered little after their goal and Blues were able to see out the game comfortably. Blues move to within a point of the leaders.
Lineups
Barnsley: Killip; De Gevigney Roberts (McCarthy 51 (Nwakali 77)) Pines; O'Keeffe (Cotter 77) Russell Connell Phillips Gent; Keillor-Dunn (Cosgrove 77) Humphrys (Lofthouse 91). Unused: Smith; Craig.
Blues: Allsop; Bielik Klarer Davies Cochrane (Gardner-Hickman 6); Iwata Paik; Laird Harris (Jutkiewicz 46) Stansfield; May (Leonard 61) Unused: Peacock-Farrell; Sanderson Khela Yokoyama.
Tactics
A strange game where in some ways, tactics went out of the way in favour of commitment to the cause.
Blues lined up in the same shape but it looked and felt more of a 3-4-3 than a 4-2-3-1 because of the personnel on the pitch, the style of play and the opposition, who played with wing-backs.
Blues were more hesitant to play through Barnsley, perhaps due to the swirling winds and poor quality of pitch. Ryan Allsop had a tendency to go longer with his passes in the first half, hoping to utilise the wind in the team’s favour.
If it wasn’t a longer kick, it was Blues playing wider with possession, knowing that would where the overload could be achieved with Barnsley playing with wing-backs. The aim tended to be either to isolate the wide centre-back against a Blues forward with a more direct forward pass or to play into the wing-back, who could then turn the ball inside as Iwata and Paik ran forward away from their markers.
That space arose because Barnsley were brave in their press. Their 3-4-3 became more of a 3-5-2 out of possession, Russell pushing up alongside Phillips to close the deep midfielders with Humphrys and Keillor-Dunn closing from the front. Gent and O’Keeffe would then push up against the wing-backs leaving them with a 3-1 rest defence.
It did force Blues longer in the circumstances. However, they did have one or two issues when Blues did beat the press with space arising for Iwata and Paik to step forward as a result of them trying to condense the pitch.
In terms of the other way, Barnsley showed parallels to Wrexham in their style, playing direct but in more of a controlled manner rather than a chaotic one.
Their approach was to move the ball vertically or horizontally as quickly as possible to make use of the space, something they did well. They did this well, rarely wasting a pass in order to move the ball back inside and spin out to the other flank. Or making use of space to feed the ball into the channel with Humphrys always a willing worker.
They tended to progress up the field using width and once in the Blues half, they would either play the ball into the area quickly or find the pass inside – the latter worked with Phillips having a number of shots from distance from the right-hand side of the Blues area.
An issue came with Blues not getting the press right. May, Harris and Stansfield were quick to close but something was missing either in the intensity of the initial press or lacking the extra man stepping up or in, perhaps an issue created by the new shape. I’m not 100% sure without looking back whether it should have been Paik and Iwata stepping up, or Laird and Gardner-Hickman stepping inside, but either way, Connell or Russell tended to be found with space to turn out and spread play out wide.
There were a lot of tactical changes here, so I’ll run through these.
1: Alex Cochrane’s injury. Blues had to change wing-backs with Taylor Gardner-Hickman playing from the right and Ethan Laird shifting to the left.
2: Lukas Jutkiewicz replaced Luke Harris. Alfie May dropped into the ‘10’ position.
3: Marc Roberts’ injury. Donovan Pines stepped into the middle of the back three with Conor McCarthy playing left centre-back.
4: Marc Leonard replaced Alfie May. While his role was technically as an attacking midfielder, it felt like Blues began to move towards more of a 3-5-2 with Paik and Leonard flanking Iwata to go and support the wing-backs in possession and build. However, Leonard definitely had more license than Paik to stay higher.
5: Barnsley triple change after having a man sent off. They went to a 4-3-2 shape with Cosgrove joining Humphrys up top. Poor Conor McCarthy.
Players
Not an afternoon to wax lyrical about individuals in Blues shirts given the difficulties getting on the ball and playing.
That said, you need players to step up on afternoons like this and Jay Stansfield did just that. His first was a tremendous effort, his second a poacher’s effort and he was so close to getting a third. I also thought he gave as good as he got in the physical battles, not afraid to leave a foot in, shove a player into the hoardings and do the dirty work you have to do on days like this. Barnsley were happy to dish it out and so was Stanno. A young man stepping up on a tough afternoon in Yorkshire.
Credit to the substitutes too. Jutkiewicz made a real impact off the bench thanks to his physicality, winning duels and reaching the ball before his markers to give us a platform to build off. Leonard, meanwhile, is cultured and just helped us move the ball better. It’s a shame he never got his assist at the end.
Iwata will have better afternoons. I don’t think Davies covered himself in glory for the goal. And Harris continues to be a player who doesn’t lack effort but is struggling to make an impact.
I was impressed with a few Barnsley players on the day.
Donovan Pines is a real unit at the back. Georgie Gent’s challenge in the first half on Stansfield was excellent and the youngster has a bit of speed about him. Corey O’Keeffe did a good job on the other flank, providing width and getting the better of Ethan Laird a couple of times.
Luca Connell is tidy. You can see why Adam Phillips has a reputation for scoring goals. Jonathan Russell showed a couple of bursts. And Stephen Humphrys is always a player that impresses me – I do wonder why he doesn’t score more goals given the speed and power in his performances.
Conclusions
It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s windy. The pitch is cut up. Your away from home. The opposition are up for it.
You can’t go into games like Saturday and expect a top-tier performance. You need your players to dig in and show that bit of quality or earn that bit of luck, and we got that.
Like a lot of top sides have shown recently, it doesn’t matter how big or strong or expensive your squad is, you can still face challenges. It’s up to your manager to find a way of circumventing them. Davies responded excellently.
We had played on Wednesday night, less than 72 hours ago. We had none of our experienced wide men available with Anderson suspended and Hansson and Wright still injured. We lost both first-choice target options with Dykes and Willumson missing through illness. We had to change shape. We lost our only fit left-back after a minute.
One thing I like about Chris Davies is that he doesn’t make excuses. He’s got a big squad for a reason and he’s showcasing a willingness to use his players now. He moved Laird to left wing-back. He brought on Jutkiewicz and went more direct. He took off a striker for a central midfielder when needing a goal. His decisions worked.
What I love about this recent run is that different players are stepping up. Whether it’s Bielik playing in a slightly uncomfortable right-back role. Whether it’s Anderson shining having shifted from left to right. Or May now he’s leading the line. Or Stansfield showing his quality. Or Dykes, Jutkiewicz and Leonard trying to earn more game time. They’re getting an opportunity and stepping up during the most awkward time of the season due to fixtures.
The flow of the game was strange here. There was no dominant team for an hour and the game felt open due to styles and conditions. Yet the moment we equalised, we took control and in the ten minutes between Stansfield’s first and the red card, we had 77% of the ball.
Otherwise, it meant we had to step up and do the ugly side of things. And Barnsley certainly did their best to put us off with some strong challenges. Cochrane got injured in one. Paik, Stansfield and Laird received some rough treatment at points.
But we gave it back. Stansfield especially. Klarer and Bielik were excellent in their duels. Harris put in a rough challenge. We defended our area well and were excellent defending set-pieces again. And we did the dark arts. Laird got a booking for rolling back on the pitch. Sometimes, you’ve got to do it.
Not a day for the purist. But for the 5k fans that travelled up north, for the judgement of Davies and his tactical nous, for the judgement of the players with so much expectation on them, this was an important day.
The run continues. Exeter City away and Bristol Rovers at home will take us to seven games in three weeks.
I know the club are taking cup competitions seriously and I’m sure Davies will want to field a strong team. However, with a league game on Saturday, he may take precautions. Laird and Stansfield both cramped up. Cochrane could be out. Dykes and Willumson have to recover from illness. Bielik have started five games in two weeks.
I’d expect Peacock-Farrell, Sanderson, Leonard and Gardner-Hickman to start. Harris probably joins them given he’s less likely to start next weekend while Anderson got a nice rest thanks to his suspension. Jutkiewicz, Khela and Yokoyama will hope for another start. I wonder if we may see Buchanan and Hansson in some capacity following injuries.
Winning six in a row always feels like a tall order but we’ve showcased that we can find a way to win football matches and games at Exeter City and at home against Bristol Rovers feel winnable. Hopefully we can get through in the cup and return to the top of the table by the end of the next week before getting a well-earned rest.