Match Report: Blues 1-0 Charlton Athletic

Jay Stansfield steals the show as Blues see off Charlton Athletic at St.Andrews to go nine points clear at the top of League One.

Birmingham City took another step closer to promotion with a 1-0 victory over play-off chasing Charlton Athletic.

Jay Stansfield proved the difference in a relatively tight affair, producing one of the goals of the season. Blues were able to hold on in the second half under more of a direct threat.

Davies decided to go completely unchanged after the thumping 4-0 win over Cambridge United in midweek. This meant Tomoki Iwata and Christoph Klarer had recovered from knocks while Paik Seung-Ho and Willum Willumson made back-to-back starts.

The game started competitively but it was Blues having more joy. It led to an early call made wrong by the officials when Stansfield chased a ball down the right with goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer hoping it would roll into the area. It didn’t and he picked it up outside of the box but no call was made.

Blues remained on top. Ben Davies glanced a header wide from a set-piece while Tomoki Iwata shanked an effort after Kieran Dowell was found with a throw-in. Then came the game’s finest moment.

Conor Coventry thought he had things under control on the left-hand side and slowed down but Stansfield picked his pocket and raced away. The England under-21 international drove inside, ignored the two options to his left and cut back onto his right foot before spanking the ball into the roof of the net.

Charlton’s first notable foray saw Luke Berry tamely head wide. Dowell then hit the base of the post with a 25-yard free-kick and later sent Stansfield away, the Blues forward cutting back for Iwata who connected cleanly on the run but straight at Maynard-Brewer. The visitors had two efforts in quick succession when a set-piece landed for Greg Docherty. His shot was blocked and Coventry blazed the follow up over the bar.

Blues came close once more. Willumson spread the ball to Keshi Anderson who returned it for a first time effort just wide of the near post. Almost immediately, Lloyd Jones played Matty Godden in behind but Alex Cochrane was quick with the save.

The second half was largely a nothing affair as Blues battened the hatches under more of a direct threat from Charlton but neither side had too much in the legs at the end of a three-game week.

The hosts stared the brighter, Laird finding space on the right but seeing his shot blocked. Anderson then broke in behind down the left but Dowell couldn’t find the target. At the other end, Charlton fired a warning sign when a set-piece fell for Tyreece Campbell but he curled over.

Nathan Jones turned to his bench and giant forward Miles Leaburn caused some issues. He did well to play fellow sub Daniel Kanu in down the left to test Allsop’s handling. Another sub, Alex Gilbert, then provided a nice cross that Leaburn couldn’t quite head on target under pressure from behind.

Chris Davies brought on Grant Hanley and Alfie May for the final five + stoppage time and it allowed them to see the game out, conceding no more shots at their goal.

Blues are nine points clear of second.

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Lineups

Blues: Allsop; Laird Klarer Davies Cochrane; Iwata Paik; Dowell Willumson (Dykes 66) Anderson (May 85); Stansfield (Hanley 85). Unused: Peacock-Farrell; Bielik Harris Wright.

Charlton: Maynard-Brewer (Mannion 46); Ramsay Jones Gillesphey; Small (Anderson 57) Berry (Kanu 57) Coventry (Gilbert 74) Docherty Edwards; Godden (Leaburn 74) Campbell. Unused: Mitchell Aneke.

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Tactics

Blues were in their usual shape. A 4-2-3-1 in which Cochrane was able to tuck inside while Laird held width on the right, and Dowell was able to tuck inside with Anderson holding width down the left. It meant Blues drifted between 3-2-4-1 and 3-3-4 shapes in possession, often opting for the latter to bring another Charlton body forward.

Charlton went man-for-man again. Campbell v Klarer. Godden v Davies. Small v Cochrane. Docherty v Iwata. Berry v Paik. Coventry v Willumson. Gillesphey v Dowell. Edwards v Laird. Ramsay v Anderson. Jones v Stansfield.

There was some nuance with the rotation of Blues. Also, Charlton really wanted to keep Jones in the centre of the pitch where possible, meaning Blues would often have Stansfield or Dowell spare. And where they were marked, it was often because Blues had reached the final third and Iwata was able to step onto the ball. Essentially, there always seemed to be a spare man in Blues colours.

You can see in the image below, as Allsop goes long, just how high Gillesphey is, ready to step onto Dowell as part of the press despite Stansfield being behind him. It actually causes a problem because Laird reaches the loose ball first and Stansfield

However, they didn’t win the number of individual battles that they won in the first game, and Blues were able to play around them as a result, especially as players were so focused on their men that others were able to slip away.

Here’s one instance below, of Docherty knowing Iwata is his man while Coventry and Berry recover having initially been with Paik and Dowell. You can even see Ramsay preparing to close Anderson. Willumson is able to slip away and find Anderson, leading to a chance.

And it meant that Blues had various ways of getting at Charlton. This included:

• Throw-ins. Central midfielders or forwards would step back or make a forward run, opening a gap in the middle. The thrower could then play inside of Dowell or Anderson on their natural side, opening up the pitch

• Goal kicks. Stansfield and Willumson would drop off with Jones and Gillesphey following them, allowing Laird or Anderson space to run in behind 2v2 with huge gaps in the centre. Edwards had to get very handsy to stop Laird getting a run on him.

• Players being brave in possession and turning their markers, or making forward runs that dragged bodies with them or cut somebody out of the game.

But Charlton weren’t without a threat of their own and they were ballsy in their approach. Small and Campbell stayed high up the pitch and wide, meaning that Charlton could set themselves and go direct at every opportunity, knowing they had a threat in behind.

They were also big on second balls. Maynard-Brewer then Mannion would go long with their kicks towards Davies or the inside of Klarer, knowing they had their centre-backs and central midfielders narrow and prepared for the seconds. It forced Blues to be sharp in those areas and led to some old school battles in the middle of the pitch. Fortunately, Blues handled a lot of this.

Despite the direct approach, they did show a willingness to try and play, but this often entailed missing the first man and going beyond them, so making forward passes into the forwards and playing off them. There was one moment where Jones, I think, played Godden almost through on goal by cutting out the Blues midfield.

It meant that Blues didn’t really have to produce much in terms of a press. When required, particularly with the ball out wide, it was done by ensuring we had a spare man. Laird and Cochrane would dovetail, closing the wing-back on their side (Small would drop in) and then quickly get back on the cover once the ball was moved to the other flank. It meant Laird and Cochrane were spare.

Charlton changed somewhat in the second half. They moved from their 3-5-2-cum-4-3-3 to more of a narrow 4-2-2-2 with Small and Berry now playing off Campbell and Godden. This was the system they utilised so well at their place in the reverse fixture.

This was then tweaked again following substitutions as Anderson and Kanu replaced Berry and Small. This was more of an all out 4-3-3 rather than a 3-5-2 with Campbell more aggressive in his positioning. He and Kanu played wide of Godden, later Leaburn, while Anderson and Docherty, later Gilbert, were more aggressive in their press.

Blues changed with five + injury time to go. Hanley and May replaced Stansfield and Anderson and moved to 3-5-2. This was done largely to counteract the threat of Leaburn and the deliveries out wide as Charlton got a foothold in the game.

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The Goal

Firstly, can we just appreciate that this is Jay Stansfield tackling centre-back Lloyd Jones about 30 yards from Ryan Allsop’s goal. He didn’t leave it for somebody else, he went and chased with Klarer then dispossessing Campbell. He finds Allsop who uncharacteristically miskicks the ball up for Laird to header.

You can see how Charlton have stepped up to press Blues with seven bodies now ahead of the ball. Admittedly, only Anderson is higher than Stansfield at this point.

Coventry takes a little look to his right to check where Stansfield is.

Once Coventry turns back, Stansfield makes his move and nicks the ball.

Now, I mentioned earlier that it was centre-back Lloyd Jones high up the pitch. And Edwards had gone flying forward to challenge Laird in the air. So Charlton were exposed once Coventry was dispossessed. Ramsay is watching Anderson. Gillesphey’s man is technically Stansfield. But that leaves Dowell and Willumson running forward in need of markers too.

Coventry slips and Stansfield is away. Gillesphey turns to his right, expecting Stansfield to utilise the overload with Dowell and Anderson, which opens up space for Stansfield to step back inside.

To be fair the two Charlton defenders, they do alright. But Stansfield takes the shot on and it’s an absolute beauty.

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Players

Another excellent display. Perhaps another game in which we didn’t learn too much about our players. It was what we’ve come to expect from many. The defence were stoic. The midfield tidy. The attack full of running and quality.

I will shout out Stansfield because, well, how can I not for that goal? But also, his forward running. He looks sharper since the move up top and he’s giving everything for the cause. Laird and Anderson also deserve credit for consistent movement in behind which caused real problems.

I’ve also seen praise for Alex Cochrane, who got the better of his duel with Thierry Small, who has been a key feature of Charlton’s game recently.

For Charlton, Miles Leaburn was a nuisance off the bench. I thought Josh Edwards had a decent game down the left-hand side up against Laird, at least in denying the space in behind.

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Conclusions

Birmingham City are now nine points clear of second place in League One with a game in hand.

Birmingham City are now 11 points clear of third place in League One with a game in hand.

Birmingham City are now 15 games unbeaten in League One, conceding just four goals.

Birmingham City are now 17 games unbeaten at home in league competition, winning 14.

All of the above statements are true.

This felt like a big week for Chris Davies and his team. We’ve just qualified for a cup semi-final and had all the pazazz of the cup game with Premier League Newcastle United. So going back to normality with home games against bottom of the table Cambridge United and play-off chasing Charlton Athletic were always going to be tough tests.

I think Davies has struck the right tone. The league is our bread and butter. We turn up, we get the job done, we make sure we secure the league title as soon as possible. And so we’ve beaten both sides, playing some excellent football in the first half of both games before showing a level of control in the second through our defensive shape.

This game took place around four and a half months after the reverse fixture at Charlton, which was comfortably our worst display of the season. We were outfought all over the pitch and lacked any kind of attacking spark.

We faced them again more street wise, more adaptable and more conviction. We were on the front foot from the off. We played our game. We exploited spaces. We went direct when we needed to. We pulled one of the most physical, best defensive teams in the division around the pitch and showed a different level.

Tuesday sparked the feeling amongst fans, but yesterday really did feel like a “when” we are promoted rather than “if”. It’s so close to done.

While the players rightly need to attack every game as it comes and get the job done as possible, fans are now beginning to look at records. It’s only human nature.

There are several schools of thought on how this plays out and I’m just going to mention something that could get in the way. The fixture pile-up.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a test. Having already played Wrexham away, Huddersfield Town away, Rotherham United, Stevenage in a cup quarter-final, Newcastle United, Cambridge United and Charlton Athletic in the last 23 days, we now face a cup semi-final, Reading (9^th), Leyton Orient (6^th), Wycombe Wanderers (2^nd) and Bolton Wanderers (8^th) within 14 days of each other, before finishing the seven two-game weeks with matches against Stevenage and Northampton Town. And we ideally need to come out of that with a place in the EFL Trophy final and at least, what, 15 points?

It’s then the international break. So Stevenage is postponed, right? And then if we make the final as we hope, Blackpool is postponed. So we have two matches to fit into the calendar.

If we reach the final, we are set to play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, Monday, Saturday, Saturday. There’s only one obvious place to fit a match, which is in the final week of the season. Presumably, we have two options to fit the Stevenage and Blackpool games in.

The first is play Stevenage on the 22^nd. We will be without, most likely, Peacock-Farrell, Sampsted, Hanley, Lee, Paik, Willumson, Harris, Dykes and maybe Stansfield. So the starting XI would still be pretty strong, but the bench will suffer. Especially as you can’t guarantee how many players will be fit after this run of games.

The second is to postpone the Stevenage game. If we do that, we probably have to move the Mansfield game to the Sunday so that we can play Good Friday, Easter Monday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday. Six games in 15 days. We saw what happened during the Christmas period and we’ll be ending the season with an even tougher run.

We do have the squad, and we will need to utilise the squad. But also, players are going to suffer.

Just something to think about as we reach what will hopefully be a glorious end to the season. Let’s focus on winning the title and the EFL Trophy, and if we break the record, great. If we don’t, it’s still been a blast, right?

Finally, looking ahead to Tuesday. Bradford City at home.

They’ve been impressive, and Graham Alexander is a manager that lives to get the better of the big guns. He has inflicted two of Wrexham’s four home losses in the league since Phil Parkinson took over at Wrexham in 2021 (with MK Dons then Bradford) and his Bantams have been on a superb run recently, winning 8 of their last 11, conceding once in their last 7.

But, it’s a game we should be winning. We’re top of League One. They’re in League Two. We would expect whatever team is put out on Tuesday to pick up a win.

I think Davies will go strong, but it won’t be the usual starting XI. Peacock-Farrell likely starts. I can see Bielik, Wright, Dykes and May starting, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Hanley joins that group. I don’t think he will take too many risks – and we aren’t exactly in the position too given our midfield options at the moment – but I can see changes being made with a strong bench on hand.

We’re 90 or so minutes from Wembley. It’s a sell-out crowd. Come on you Blues!