Match Report: Blues 2-0 Bristol Rovers
Goals from a returning Lee Buchanan and sharp-shooter Jay Stansfield secured sixth win on the bounce for Birmingham City in a dominant performance.
Birmingham City returned to the automatic promotion places after a comfortable 2-0 win against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Goals from Lee Buchanan, in his first league appearance of the season, and Jay Stansfield were enough to seal a fourth consecutive win in League One and sixth on the bounce in all competitions.
Davies made three changes from the XI that beat Barnsley away from home last weekend with Buchanan (injury), Willum Willumson (illness) and Keshi Anderson (suspension) replacing Ethan Laird, Luke Harris (both benched) and Alex Cochrane (injured).
Blues almost took the lead within a minute when Stansfield volleyed over Keshi Anderson’s cross. Another delivery, this time from a set-piece was headed to the ede of the box where Buchanan lay in wait. He struck the ball into the ground and watched it bounce into the far corner for his first Birmingham City goal.
It ought to have been two before the ten minute mark. Tomoki Iwata’s bouncing effort forced a stop from Josh Griffiths, who then sprung into action to parry a teasing May delivery behind. Krystian Bielik headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner and Blues were almost immediately in from the goal kick, Anderson having his shot blocked.
Two teasing deliveries almost brought about goals. The first was a Willumson cut back which evaded two before Anderson’s tame effort was dealt with. Then a quick free-kick allowed Willumson to send Anderson in behind with May stabbing the low cross neither on target or into the path of Stansfield.
The second wasn’t far away. May was left unmarked in the box and after feiting, he shot. The ball hit the outstretched arm of Connor Taylor according to the referee and a penalty awarded. Stansfield took responsibility and slotted to the side of Griffiths.
After a lull, Blues came close to adding a third before the break. Firstly, Iwata’s break away ended with Stansfield smashing over. The England under-21 international then had two efforts blocked before Paik Seung-Ho laced the ball over from the edge of the box.
The second half was more about control than final third action for Blues with Bristol Rovers, who had one shot during the entire first half, again lacking any quality in the final third.
Paik stabbed the ball at goal shortly after the whistle. It was a while until Blues really made strides, unhelped by a break in play for a Stansfield knock and the visitors changing shape.
When the chances came, Anderson broke in behind but tried to be clever rather than taking aim. A set-piece landed at the feet of Ben Davies who couldn’t connect with conviction. The best opportunity came when Christoph Klarer drove forward and sent Willumson in, his cross being volleyed on target by May only for James Wilson to read it.
The visitors had a rare chance inside the area, Isaac Hutchinson heading a cross more into the air than towards goal. Allsop collected the ball and played a gorgeous pass that sent May racing behind. He slowed down and found Stansfield who shot at Griffiths from distance.
Blues briefly went down to ten men but it mattered little with Blues popping the ball about. Willumson found Jutkiewicz who blazed into the crowd from an angle. Jutkiewicz then headed on target via a short corner routine.
Rovers had the final of their three shots in injury time, Shaqai Forde skipping away before firing into his own fans. Their response of “we’ve had a shot” summed up the nature of the game.
A professional performance and a nice way to end a hectic period of fixtures.
Lineups
Birmingham: Allsop; Bielik (Gardner-Hickman 79) Klarer Davies Buchanan (Laird 67); Iwata Paik; Anderson (Leonard 85) Willumson Stansfield (Harris 79); May (Jutkiewicz 79). Unused: Peacock-Farrell; Yokoyama.
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths; Wilson Taylor Forbes (Martin 52); Senior (Moore 67) Conteh Lindsay (Ward 67) Mola; Forde McCormick (Omochere 73); O'Donkor (Hutchinson 67). Unused: Bilongo Sinclair.
Tactics
An afternoon that showcased the increasing flexibility in Blues’ tactical set-up depending on the opposition’s approach, but also how we can cut apart a poor press.
Bristol Rovers were bold here and opted for a 3-4-3 that saw them essentially go man-for-man all over the pitch. Front three v back three. Midfield two v midfield two. Back five vs Blues’ front five. And generally, whichever side Blues had the ball on, the rest of the team would step inside to try and cover the space. They just didn’t press well. It wasn’t a high press, it wasn’t a low press. They allowed themselves to be outnumbered or dragged all around the pitch.
The image below helps show this. Kamil Conteh (LCM) has closed Paik Seung-Ho (CM), O’Donkor (ST) and Forde (RAM) have tucked in to cut the space to Paik. Luke McCormick (LAM), is closing Krystian Bielik (RB) with Willum Willumson (18, CAM), being watched by Michael Forbes (LCB).
Mola (LWB) is left isolated against Anderson (RW) and defending large space because not only has Forbes vacated position but so has Taylor (CCB) by following May (ST) into a deeper area. On the far side, James Wilson (RCB) and Joel Senior (RWB) are watching Jay Stansfield (LW). Ordinarily, Lee Buchanan would be higher, but he has stayed put on this occasion.
The approach meant Blues could move the ball, shift Bristol Rovers about and go for the longer pass. Shortly after the opener, Allsop goes long for Stansfield, who is in behind the Gas backline with Wilson following. He can, because Senior is worried about Buchanan while Taylor and Forbes have again stepped up with May and Willumson.
The ball dropped for May and when he crossed, three bodies were near him, leaving Stansfield, Anderson and Willumson in the area marked by Taylor and Forbes. Iwata ends up shooting.
Again, we’re about half hour in. Blues play a quick free-kick and move it to the right. Bielik isn’t closed by McCormick and finds Willumson. Forbes steps out to close him. Taylor has stepped up with May leaving a gap in behind. Anderson races in behind Mola, who admittedly slips.
And one final shot. Bielik receives the ball and McCormick closes down. O’Donkor, goes to close Klarer, Forde shoots off to go and close Davies. Forde’s action leaves Paik free in the middle of the pitch. Lindsay (CM, next to refere) then sprints out to close. Taylor and Forbes are stepping up because May and Anderson take a step backwards leaving Conteh (CM) in a race with Iwata (CM) in behind.
It meant that Blues were more flexible than the normal 3-2-4-1 in-possession set-up. Willumson spent a lot of time dropping deep or out on the right-hand side, which consistently dragged Bristol Rovers defenders out of position. And it meant Blues actually played more of a 4-3-3 than a 3-2-4-1, because that’s how we were able to exploit the space.
Bristol Rovers did try and play to a point. They reminded me a little of Wrexham in the way they tried to play from a deeper position and move the ball quickly across the backline to find the wing-back. It was once they got into the Blues half that they struggled, O’Donkor often left fighting with Klarer, who would quickly be supported by another. Or Forde would step inside and look to create, only to find himself with limited options and either running into trouble or playing safe.
They switched formation early in the second half. Chris Martin replaced Forbes and their 3-4-3 became 4-2-3-1. McCormick moved into the role off the front with O’Donkor and Forde flanking. It allowed them to more of a natural man-for-man shape and having natural width gave them the option of going for the diagonal more often – Wilson tried to hit O’Donkor and later Hutchinson on a number of occasions.
They made another switch, next time to 4-4-2 with Omochere joining Martin in attack which made little change to the performance.
Blues responded themselves with changes. Ethan Laird replaced Lee Buchanan but switched sides to the right when Taylor Gardner-Hickman arrived. Marc Leonard replaced Keshi Anderson and Willum Willumson shifted to the right.
Players
This was so comfortable, it’s hard to go too big on our players.
Keshi Anderson, Willum Willumson and Alfie didn’t get the rewards, but they played their roles excellently in pulling apart the Bristol Rovers defence. Anderson in particular gave Mola a tough time.
Paik Seung-Ho and Tomoki Iwata were typically classy in the centre of the pitch. It was interesting to see Iwata spend just as much time going into advanced areas than Paik, and the boy can shift when he wants to.
Krystian Bielik had a very competent game and made use of the available space. Christoph Klarer had a good battle with the stocky and speedy Gatlin O’Donkor, one that he one more often than not. Lee Buchanan was back to his tenacious self. And a word for Ryan Allsop whose distribution was mostly excellent – I'm gutted the club highlights package has cut out the quality of his pass to May.
For Bristol Rovers, four players caught my eye. James Wilson showcased his experience and did an okay job up against Stanno. Connor Taylor gives me Harry Souttar vibes – an absolute giant who ought to be useful in the right set-up. Shaqai Forde lacked the quality but his initial bursts suggested he has a little something about him. And Gatlin O’Donkor possesses the physical tools and work rate that should help him make a career in the game – and I’ve seen him bag in the National League.
Conclusions
Six wins in a row. All six coming within a two and a half week period. Four of those coming away from home. Two of those with much-changed sides against close to full strength opposition from the same division.
This run should not be sniffed at. It’s been the perfect response to the loss at Shrewsbury Town.
As noted above, I’m loathe to go too big on this victory. I think Bristol Rovers are the worst we have played this season in terms of their off-ball shape. It was as naive as we’ve come across and we got so much joy playing through the lines or over the top.
If there is something to nitpick at, it’s that we never added another one, two or three goals. But we won, we kept a clean sheet, we were consistently threatening while our opponents had three shots and a three touches inside our area. That big scoreline will come.
That's seven clean sheets in 16 matches (only Shrewsbury have scored more than one against us in that time) in all competitions and perhaps more pertinently, three in four since we switched up the side and brought in Ben Davies for Ethan Laird. We’ve looked more competent defending set-pieces which helps, while Allsop has looked an assured presence and stepped up when we need him. Only Paik Seung-Ho has scored against us in the last four.
I’m absolutely delighted for Lee Buchanan. It can’t have been an easy season for him. He was already likely to lose his spot to Alex Cochrane, then picked up an injury in pre-season and having recovered, he suffered another setback which delayed his comeback. Buchanan’s return has been timely given Cochrane’s injury and to score his first Blues goal in his first league appearance for seven months must have felt very, very good.
A word for the Bristol Rovers fans as well. Holding up the Justice for 21 banner, cheering when they had a short spell of possession in the first half, singing “how shit must you be, we’ve just had a shot” late on. The kind of self-deprecating humour us Brummies can get behind.
We finally get a break now – a whole nine days. It was no surprise to hear Davies say we will have a couple of days off. Hopefully the players can enjoy a bit of recovery time before we jump into the next group of fixtures.
The schedule feels skewed against us – and our next opponents Crawley Town. Where most sides play on Saturday 21st, with others agreeing to move their fixtures to Friday 20th, us and Crawley will now play Monday 23rd, Thursday 26th, Sunday 29th, Wednesday 1st and Saturday 4th. Five games in 12 days with no more than 72 hours break at any point. And both us and Crawley will play three of those away from home.
Nobody will feel sorry for us – if any squad can cope, it’s ours. I do feel a little more sorry for Crawley, who have endured weeks where they haven’t been able to field a full bench.
I’m looking forward to the game. Crawley are averaging around 60% of the ball each game and though they’ve lost Scott Lindsay, Rob Elliot showed at Gateshead that his principles are similar in terms of wanting the ball and wanting to dominate. The reason for their struggles is simply financial – they can’t afford the quality of player others can in League One.
As a National League follower, I’m looking to potentially seeing players such as Charlie Barker (Wealdstone), Harry Forster (Bromley and Kidderminster Harriers), Gavan Holohan (Hartlepool United and Grimsby Town), Toby Mullarkey, Junior Quirtina (both Altrincham), Jack Roles (Woking) and Eddie Beach (Gateshead) potentially come up against us. But that also partly showcases the difference in financial clout and where they are shopping in comparison to the rest of the division.
I do think as fans, we should be mindful of the schedule and that winning five matches in 12 days – all of which are league matches – won’t be simple. But can we make it seven on the bounce? Sure, why not.