Match Report: Blues 2-1 Lincoln City
A much-changed Birmingham City qualify for round four of the FA Cup thanks to strikes from Ayuma Yokoyama and Lyndon Dykes.
Birmingham City qualified for the fourth round of the FA Cup after a 2-1 victory over fellow League One outfit Lincoln City.
The scoring was opened within a minute courtesy of Ayuma Yokoyama with Lyndon Dykes adding a sumptuous second later on. Lincoln got one back late on via the penalty spot but Blues held on for the victory.
Chris Davies has been open with priorities this season and made seven changes for this one, giving players additional rest after their exertion during the previous couple of weeks. Alfons Sampsted and Scott Wright made their first starts after injury, Bailey Peacock-Farrell got the nod in net while Marc Leonard, Lyndon Dykes, Ayuma Yokoyama and Lukas Jutkiewicz were given the nod. There were also places on the bench for Alfie Chang and Zaid Betteka.
The changes worked almost immediately – 32 seconds to be precise. Taylor Gardner-Hickman, situated at right-back after stints in attacking midfield, played a ball in behind for Scott Wright who crossed a bouncing ball for first time. The cross reached Yokoyama at the back post and he watched Lewis Montsma skid past before calmly finishing through the legs of ex-Blue Zach Jeacock.
An untidy attempt to get the ball down allowed Lincoln the opportunity to respond but Jack Moylan volleyed wide. He was then denied by a block while Bailey Cadamateri was unable to get the better of Christoph Klarer after beating the offside trap.
Blues responded. Alex Cochrane delivered a gorgeous cross for Jutkiewicz to attack, Jeacock showing good reflexes to push the ball over the bar. A moment later, Yokoyama escaped and his delivery caused problems with Wright unable to find Jutkiewicz with a volleyed shot-cum-pass to the far post.
There was a stoppage in play when Lewis Montsma fouled Jutkiewicz with Blues unhappy. The belief is the centre-back may have stamped on the Blues striker but no action was taken.
The Imps had the better of the chances thereon. Cadamarteri came close with a volley after his team-mates kept a set-piece alive. Dom Jefferies did well to beat Gardner-Hickman and Sampsted but blazed over and his delivery from the left was struck over on the half volley by Conor McGrandles.
Lincoln started the second half the better, a braver approach paying dividends with Ethan Erhahon striking from distance and Cadamarteri putting an effort over the bar after a long throw. Blues made a change and settled down but it would take a moment of brilliance to settle the tie.
Gardner-Hickman played a set-piece up towards Dykes who outmuscled Paudie O’Connor and controlled on his chest. Montsma came across but the Scottish international dinked the ball over his head, allowed the ball to bounce and controlled on his chest before volleying over the dive of Jeacock.
Reeco Hackett-Fairchild had a positive impact from the bench, delivering a nice cross that Freddie Draper headed wide before clicking on a near post corner that was blocked by Gardner-Hickman.
Lincoln did get one back. Davies gave Chang a long-awaited return to action and he was perhaps a little too keen, giving away a free-kick that was launched into the area. And as the ball dropped towards the edge of the box, the midfielder slid in and the referee adjudged him to have fouled Montsma. Jovon Makama squeezed the ball into the bottom corner despite Peacock-Farrell getting a touch.
Blues ought to have killed the game straight from kick-off. A long punt forward was flicked on by Dykes and it sent Willum Willumson in behind. He took the shot early and Jeacock made a good save.
And that was almost costly. In the final seconds, Blues gave away a corner that was delivered towards the penalty spot and headed just too high and just too wide of the post.
Round Four awaits.
Lineups
Blues: Peacock-Farrell; Gardner-Hickman Sampsted (Chang 74) Klarer Cochrane; Leonard Harris (Betteka 87); Wright (Laird 62) Dykes Yokoyama (Willumson 74); Jutkiewicz (Paik 74). Unused: Allsop; Davies Iwata May.
Lincoln: Jeacock; Montsma O'Connor Roughan; Darikwa (Hackett-Fairchild 69) McGrandles (Hamilton 82) Erhahon Moylan (Bayliss 69) Jefferies (Ring 86); Cadamarteri (Draper 69) Makama. Unused: Pardington Jackson Duffy Okoro.
Tactics
Blues switched things up a little amid changes.
The line up read (right to left):
Peacock-Farrell
Gardner-Hickman Sampsted Klarer Cochrane
Leonard Harris
Wright Dykes Yokoyama
Jutkiewicz
But in possession, it would become:
Peacock-Farrell
Sampsted Klarer Cochrane
Gardner-Hickman Leonard
Wright Harris Dykes Yokoyama
Jutkiewicz
So Gardner-Hickman was tucking into midfield from full-back with Harris stepping up alongside Dykes. They were flanked by the wingers holding the width.
Blues typically dominated possession and Lincoln attempted to halt it from a 3-5-2 shape. The two strikers and three central midfielders stepped up to stay close in narrow positions, forcing the ball wider.
The back five essentially all had men to mark. As they were forcing the ball wide, they tried to push the wing-back forward rather than all following individual men. For example, when Harris dropped into a wide right position, Jefferies (LWB) would step up to him rather than Roughan, who would normally be his marker.
Whenever the ball was funnelled wide to Wright or Yokoyama, Lincoln would quickly double up to stop the delivery into the area.
Lincoln themselves didn’t show too much in terms of in possession stuff. They played to a point but they wanted to get on seconds and funnel the ball wide. Makama was a target to hit and it appeared as though they were aiming for him up against Klarer not because it was guaranteed he would win possession, but that it may take Klarer out of position for others to exploit on the seconds, or if Makama caused enough of an issue for Klarer not to win the duel.
Once in possession, they aimed for width and got bodies in the box. Their shape often became 3-1-4-2 with the ball, pushing the wing-backs and two of the central midfielders on, looking to get at least three men in the area and have the midfielders ready for anything that dropped.
Blues were in a 4-2-3-1 shape but stayed tight to any forward passes, surrounding Klarer and looking to get on the second. The aim was to receive and play either back to Peacock-Farrell or towards a wider position. What tended to happen was that Sampsted would tuck in close to Klarer, flanked by the full-backs with Wright having a tendency to drop deeper than Yokoyama on the flank so Blues could match up in numbers.
In terms of the press, that was also similar. Yokoyama was given license to stay higher with Jutkiewicz and Dykes with Wright taking the duel role of closing Roughan but also getting back in to support Gardner-Hickman and allow him to tuck in where necessary.
Lincoln switched up in the second half. Hackett-Fairchild arrived to play left wing-back with Jefferies switching to the right. McGrandles dropped a little deeper next to Erhahon before being replaced with the wing-backs more aggressive.
Blues responded themselves. Firstly, Laird replaced Wright. Laird dropped in at right-back with Gardner-Hickman going to right-wing. A triple changed switched things up again. Sampsted was replaced with Laird going in at centre-back while Gardner-Hickman returned to right-back. Paik joined Leonard in central midfield with Harris moving wide left. Dykes led the line, supported by Chang, central, and Willumson, right.
Players
Nobody let the side down. Klarer and Cochrane led by example. Leonard was Leonard, calm and composed. Harris had another steady game, showcasing the more reliable elements of his game.
Gardner-Hickman. Deserves huge credit. His last four games have seen him play:
Blackpool: Right-back holding the width like a wing-back
Stockport County: Right-wing holding the width and performing a duel role pressing the centre-back and dropping in on the wing-back
Wigan Athletic: Left-wing holding the width before spending the final half hour in an attacking midfield position
Lincoln: Right-back tucking into central midfield, ten minutes on the right-wing then the rest of the game as an orthodox right-back
His versatility and willingness to muck in, take on tactical directions and perform them is super impressive. A very reliable performer.
Sampsted played centre-back and didn’t always look comfortable but also got the job done and didn’t let the side down. Wright had some sharp moments but looks a touch rusty after so long injured. Jutkiewicz toiled away up top and it was a shame he didn’t get his goal.
Yokoyama. There has been a lot of clamour for him to play and scoring helped him on his latest audition. His directness and willingness to get at players is something we miss at points but he also showed a lot of naivety in his decision making both in and out of possession. It’s easy to get excited but he’s just about to turn 22 and had 21 league starts to his name in Japan prior to signing for Blues – he still has a lot to learn.
And there’s Dykes. He played off the front and kept things sharp and simple. I’m delighted he got his goal and to get in the manner he did will be a big confidence boost, as well as reminding fans that he is more than capable.
For Lincoln, I thought Roughan had a decent game as the left sided centre-back. Makama certainly has the frame but they looked a little too raw up top. Erhahon got about the pitch well.
Conclusions
FA Cup Third Round. Low sun. Frost on the pitch. Temperature in the minuses. Seven changes made.
Today was all about just getting the job done. And fair play to those that stepped in, because they did just that.
It wasn’t always pretty. We didn’t always play to the surface, which allowed the ball to run a bit quicker than normal, too well and also made some poor decisions in possession, needlessly giving it away at points. But that’s part and parcel when you make so many changes.
What was most important was the application and taking the opportunities when they came. We did that, and did it against a mid-table League One outfit that made just three changes to their last league XI.
It was great to see Alfie Chang back out on the pitch. Most of us will have no idea what it’s like to be a professional footballer recovering from an injury like that for so long. And the timing felt horrible for him, giving he was in and around the first-team just as so much change was coming – he had a big opportunity to stake his claim and that was ripped away from him. It’s a shame he gave away a penalty – I'm not entirely sure it should have been one.
Also, I enjoyed Davies saying post-match that the big noise for Betteka’s debut was likely because he’s got five younger sisters. To be able to give an academy graduate a debut is nice given it hasn’t been a priority this year amid the pressure to win football matches.
I suspect we will see a few more first-teamers for the trip to Swindon Town, albeit it’s a game we would hope to win while still being able to chop and change.
Looking at the fixture list, we’ve got an almighty run of fixtures coming up in terms of quality of opposition and some of the away days and we will have a much clearer picture of where we are at at the end of that run. Hopefully a couple of weeks rest will do the players a lot of good, coupled with a couple of new additions.
I’ve got a piece coming out tomorrow morning. Hopefully you will enjoy that. In the meantime, up the fucking Blues!
Thanks Ryan. Big shout out for Dykes, that'll do him the world of good.