Match Report: Birmingham City 3-1 Wrexham
Tom Brady, David Beckham and Co witnessed a big Blues win and performance in front of a raucous sell-out crowd at St.Andrews.
Birmingham City came away victorious in a high profile League One clash with Wrexham at St.Andrews.
The visitors stunned the hosts when a corner fell for Jack Marriott but Blues’ own sharp shooter Jay Stansfield responded as Blues grew in confidence.
Stansfield netted his second with a gorgeous header before fellow deadline day signing Tomoki Iwata sealed the deal for Blues, who finished with ten men after Bielik saw red figuratively and literally.
The two goalscorers were Davies’ only two changes from the league win over Wigan Athletic, replacing the injured Ethan Laird and Luke Harris. Taylor Gardner-Hickman moved to right-back while Keshi Anderson replaced Ayuma Yokoyama on the bench.
Blues were sloppy early doors and quickly punished by an outfit that have so far been ruthless. An inswinging corner was tamely pushed away by Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who had allowed himself to get involved with Eoghan O’Connell, and Marriott was on hand to fire home via a deflection.
Rather than go quiet, the fans rallied and gradually, the players did too. It started with a short corner routine that saw Paik Seung-Ho fire wide and the control increased until the equaliser.
A low cross from the right was touched by Stansfield to Willum Willumson who drew Alfie May’s marker to him and laid it to the forward. His first time effort was poorly parried straight to Stansfield who reacted sharply to score.
Blues were completely dominant thereon but couldn’t quick find the opening they needed. Gardner-Hickman fired over after a half cleared corner and May shot straight at Arthur Okonkwo from distance.
The second half started as the first finished with Blues in total control of the ball and Wrexham offering little going the other way. That dominance paid off before the hour with two quality moments.
The first was a familiar pattern for Blues. Krystian Bielik stepped out and wasn’t engaged, allowing him to find Alex Cochrane who quickly delivered an inch-perfect cross that Stansfield directed into the bottom corner.
A few minutes later and it was three. Emil Hansson stepped inside and found Paik whose first time pass allowed Iwata to drive into space. His left footed drive found the bottom corner and that was job done.
Stansfield almost grabbed his hat-trick when May blocked an attempted clearance. The youngster controlled a high, spinning ball expertly but Okonkwo got down quick enough to avoid the ball being poked through his legs. The best Wrexham could muster in response was a tame Paul Mullin effort from distance.
There wasn’t much going on beyond a couple of tasty challenges but that all changed with ten to go. Cochrane challenged Mullin then landed on him. Mullin went to bite Cochrane before stopping. Bielik and McClean got into it, with McClean being seen to punch Leonard. It all kicked off. Four bookings dished out.
Clearly still frustrated by issues moments before, Bielik went flying into a challenge on substitute Andy Cannon and was understandably shown a second yellow. A moment of madness.
Wrexham had more of the ball for the final few minutes but didn’t really do much with it. Jacob Mendy skewed wide while Elliott Lee failed to test Peacock-Farrell from distance.
A big performance. A big win. Blues go joint top.
Lineups
Blues: BPF; TGH (Sampsted 64) Klarer Bielik (Davies 88) Cochrane; Paik Iwata; Willumson May (Dykes 64) Hansson (Anderson 72); Stansfield (Leonard 72). Unused: Allsop; Wright.
Wrexham: Okonkwo; Cleworth O'Connell O'Connor; Barnett (Revan 84) Dobson Rathbone (Cannon 73) Lee McClean (Mendy 84); Palmer (Fletcher 64) Marriott (Mullin 64). Unused: Burton; Scarr.
Tactics
Despite the change in personnel, there wasn’t much change to Blues’ shape here. A tweak with the balance of midfield perhaps – closer to a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-3-3 – but small details rather than anything major.
With the ball, Blues continued in the 3-2-4-1 shape that has worked so far. Paik and Iwata paired in midfield with Paik having more license to drift forward into advanced areas. May and Willumson created a midfield box with Hansson and Gardner-Hickman providing the width on each flank. With Stansfield leading the line, Blues perhaps had more of a consistent focal point.
Wrexham sat off in their 3-5-2. Lee and Rathbone were tasked with closing Cochrane and Klarer and cutting off their options with the strikers shifting over. However, with Paik stepping into higher positions, Blues having four men in the centre of the pitch and the back three so willing to step forward, it became difficult for them to get out quickly. Cochrane saw more of the ball than others with Palmer less capable of sprinting out to cut the space off when the strikers shifted. For goals one and three, you can see how the Wrexham midfield became outnumbered as a result of such movements.
In possession, they wanted to drop deep, open up the pitch and utilise the power of Palmer or the width of Barnett and McClean. They did this well early doors, moving the ball quickly and forcing Hansson to drop deep with Barnett. The longer the game continued, the more they struggled.
That was in part to their own inability to keep the ball but also Blues’ improved press. Davies set up to get two men up against Ollie Palmer for the direct pass, Cochrane serving as a blocker to allow Bielik to get up. That meant Hansson needing to play up against Barnett, which left Cleworth free. May was tasked with Cleworth, but he was coming from a midfield position, which left Rathbone free if Blues didn’t pick up the spare man.
Blues adapted in-game. May was sharper out to Cleworth with Paik, Iwata and Willumson more aggressive in their work against Wrexham’s midfield, meaning they were caught out less. When out to the other flank, Willumson got up against O’Connor with Hansson stepping infield.
A notable difference was that when deliveries came into the box, Blues usually had two men in there. May being closer to Stansfield meant Paik doing more work into the left-hand channel rather than the right, where he has predominantly been based.
Players
Given the dominance and quality of our performance moving into the final third, I have to praise our back three and central midfield.
Bielik, until the red, led by example. Klarer is a monster of a defender and one that seems to really enjoy the competitive nature of games. Cochrane spent his game trying to block Palmer and running away down the left-hand side. The cross. Beautiful.
As for the midfield two, they were a little shy early doors but soon got into the groove and ran the show. They never look like they’ll lose the ball.
May, Willumson and Hansson worked hard and did what they needed to without truly shining. Stansfield rightly gets plaudits for his brace.
Peacock-Farrell has now been directly culpable for a goal in our last three matches and questions are being asked, especially with Allsop waiting in the wings.
Wrexham weren’t particularly impressive on the day. Eoghan O’Connell played well all things considered, making a number of Interceptions and well-timed challenges.
Conclusions
Despite it being mid-September and against newly-promoted opposition, this felt like an important game for the team and the club to win.
We won more than just the football match.
All eyes were on Birmingham City Football Club. Live on Sky. Against Wrexham. Tom Brady, Tom Wagner, Rob McElhenney, David Beckham, Gary Neville in attendance.
I’ve spoken of my unease at everything that is going on. It’s taking some getting used to. The expectation. The noise. The ambition.
It’s nobody’s fault – the ownership have by and large stuck to every promise they’ve put forward. But I was in school the last time I could be expectant of my football club so trying to wrap my head around being the big spenders, title favourites, best football team, it’s a lot. Confidence doesn’t suit this introvert used to supporting an underdog.
For all the pre-match celeb and money talk, Monday night was unapologetically Birmingham City.
The atmosphere was incredible. One Beckham has spoken of on CBS and Davo’s American pal called better than the North London Derby. The fan response to the opener was tremendous.
And that’s before we get to the football. We still haven’t hit top gear yet we are so good. It’s a joy watching this football team play. And not just because we move the ball well but because of how hard we work. As for neutral concerns about us standing up physically to teams, we are more than comfortable doing that. Seeing so many players come to the aid of a team-mate after years of few doing so is good to see.
It’s not perfect. While we are creating good chances when we create them, we aren’t consistently creating opportunities. We also can’t keep going behind in games and giving teams the opportunity to sit in and defend. But again, it’s details, not major surgery.
Responding to the comedown will be important now. Rotherham United will be happy to sit in, play for set-pieces and look to harm us physically. They’re a big unit. We have to keep our heads, keep the ball and make our opportunities count again.
Losing Krystian Bielik is a blow, both in terms of aerial prowess and playing out. Big shoes for Ben Davies to fill. And again, it will be interesting to see what happens in net. Otherwise, it’s hard to imagine us changing much.
It will be our sixth consecutive sell-out of the season. Here’s hoping fans travel back happy again.