Match Report: Blues 3-4 Southampton

An injury-time winner leaves ten man Blues pointless after a seven-goal thriller that saw us go toe-to-toe with Premier League bound Southampton

Birmingham City and promotion chasing Southampton played out an all-action, free-flowing seven-goal thrillier at St.Andrews @ Knighthead Park.  

The tone for a breathtaking affair was set when Koji Miyoshi scored after two minutes with Adam Armstrong and Jay Stansfield also finding the net before half-time.  

David Brooks and Che Adams gave Southampton the lead after the break and the game took another turn with a harsh red for Dion Sanderson. Juninho Bacuna made it 3-3 but a late, late Joe Aribo winner gave the visitors all three points.  

Three changes were made for the game with Cody Drameh and Tyler Roberts dropping to the bench and Marc Roberts unavailable through injury. Emmanuel Aiwu, Lee Buchanan and Juninho Bacuna returned to the XI with Ethan Laird returning to right-back. Alex Pritchard and George Hall returned to the squad with Gary Gardner dropping out. Krystian Bielik remained absent.  

Blues set the tone from the off with their high press against Southampton’s open, possession-heavy style and made the most of their first opportunity, Bacuna switching out to Miyoshi who controlled and finished.  

It almost got better, Aiwu stepping up high to win the ball and Bacuna curling against the post. The visitors soon found their groove, Brooks volleying an Adam Armstrong cross into the ground and over before Adams and Armstrong forced low stops. Jordan James switched for Laird, who cut inside and saw an effort deflect wide and Miyoshi was more wayward when his chance arrived.  

The Saints were looking smooth in possession and equalised before the 20-minute mark. A swift move saw Smallbone flick the ball around the corner to Brooks who wasted no time in sending Armstrong in behind to finish first time through the legs of Ruddy.  

The fun didn’t stop and it was Saints having the big moments. Adams hit the post from 25 yards and Stuart Armstrong fired over. Ruddy produced an excellent stop to deny Ryan Manning’s back post header, Smallbone was found by Brooks only to see a low effort squirm wide of the near post via a Ruddy touch and Downes forced another stop from the Blues keeper.  

Blues were never out of the game, however, and through a bit of fortune, re-took the lead. A straight long ball from Sanderson was flicked in behind his own defence by Jan Bednarek and Stansfield fired into the roof of the net.  

The visitors’ play was superb and Armstrong curled a snapshot effort off the bar before Smallbone fired wide on the rebound. And Manning thought he had scored but Sanderson made an important block. At the end other end, Paik broke forward and patience allowed him to find James but his low effort was tame. A thrilling half.  

Things didn’t slow down. Bacuna showed excellent footwork to beat two and curl just wide with his left foot before loose play gave Adam Armstrong a chance.  

Saints equalised for a second with a swift break, Brooks making the most of an unfortunate Buchanan slip and intelligent Smallbone run to drift inside and curl home excellently. And Adams made it three. His shot deflected against Laird for a corner and a poor Stansfield clearance from the resulting corner allowed Smallbone to find the striker at the back post to squeeze the ball home.  

Things got worse for Blues just after the hour, Sanderson stepping out and catching Smallbone, who was simply quicker to react. Southampton complained that the referee had stopped play with Adams turning towards goal with Blues breathing a sigh of relief, only for the red to be branded. Very harsh.  

The game finally slowed down a touch with Blues getting used to a new shape and Saints looking to keep the ball under a little less pressure. Edozie teed up Adams after Blues gave the ball away but he couldn’t turn home.  

Once settled, Blues continued their front-foot approach and it paid off. The ball was worked out to Ethan Laird who squared up his man, reached the touchline and cut back for Stansfield whose snapshot hit the post. The loose ball found it’s way to Bacuna who made no mistake with only an outfielder on the line to beat.  

Saints weren’t about to lie down. As Blues relied on the forward running of Bacuna as a way out, Saints went for an uber-attacking system. Adams hit the side netting. Manning’s cross hit Drameh and narrowly fell wide of the far post. A low cross just evaded Edozie at the back post the former Man City youngster had a shot blocked by Bacuna.  

The resulting corner provided the killer blow. Saints got first contact from the back post corner and Aribo was on hand to prod the ball home from close range. Gutting.  

Blues gave everything they had, but a very good Southampton side came out victors in what was undeniably one of the finest matches of the 2023-24 Championship season. 

Lineups 

Blues 

Ruddy; Laird Sanderson Aiwu Buchanan; Miyoshi (Sunjic 80) Dozzell (Pritchard 68) Paik (Drameh 68) JJ; Bacuna (Hall 97); Stansfield (Roberts 97). Unused: Etheridge; Dembele Hogan Jutkiewicz.  

Southampton 

Bazunu; THB Bednarek Stephens Manning (Mara 85); Smallbone (Aribo 70) Downes (Rothwell 85) Armstrong; Brooks (Edozie 65) Adams (Sulemana 85) Armstrong. Unused: Lumley; Bree Charles Dibling.  

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Tactics 

Southampton dominated the ball, so let’s start with them.  

Their nominal line up was pretty fluid but generally, it was 4-3-3 with Harwood-Bellis (THB) at right-back, Manning at LB and Downes flanked by Stuart Armstrong and Smallbone in midfield. Adam Armstrong and Brooks flanked Adams in attack.  

However, they started the game moving towards a 3-3-1-3 style formation with THB stepping in with the centre-backs, Downes showing midfield with Manning and Smallbone showing on either flank, one of S.Armstong or Adams dropping off, the other staying high flanked by the wingers. Once the ball was received out wide, there would be a number of runners from deep, be that Armstrong drifting in from the left or Smallbone, Manning and S.Armstrong making forward runs. 

Blues simply went man-to-man to stop this. The front three against the back three. Miyoshi vs Manning. Dozzell up against Downes with Paik vs Smallbone and Aiwu following whichever of Adams and S.Armstrong dropped off. That left Blues 3v3 at the back with the full-backs tucking in so that they straight ball in behind wasn’t on.  

The approach worked well. Blues nicked possession high more than once, particularly through Aiwu challenges and the aggression to close the space on the ball for the man in possession. However, it was clear that whenever Blues were beat by the first pass, or failed to step up with somebody, Southampton were prime to make the most of it, rarely taking an extra touch to ensure Blues were punished.  

Southampton made changes during the game to give themselves more control. One included Manning beginning to step inside whenever Bednarek received possession with either of the Armstrongs showing wide to receive the ball, which made life more difficult for Aiwu to step out and opened space inside. Blues continued with the same approach, however, with Aiwu stepping onto S.Armstrong when he drifted out and Miyoshi tracking Manning.  

Another switch saw Jack Stephens begin a John Stones-esque role where he was situated in the middle of defence but began stepping forward in midfield ahead of Flynn Downes in possession, happy to take the ball forward and allowing Downes to continue dictating deep.  

For Blues, the plan was clear – width. When Blues were in possession, it was usually in a form of transition meaning that the space was wide to break, and the switch was always on. That showed with Blues’ first two chances and Blues regularly looked to find Miyoshi and Laird down the right-hand side to step forward and drive. 

When short possession was looked at, Blues played with more of a 3-4-2-1 shape with James and Laird providing the width and Sanderson flanked by Aiwu and Buchanan. Players were asked to be brave, step out with the ball. 

And yet, perhaps contradictorily, Blues were happy to play a longer game when necessary. Ruddy was utilised whenever necessary and his game was about playing the ball forward, searching for Laird or Stansfield on the right-hand side and Blues playing for seconds. The big thing was that it always felt controlled, rather than panicked. We had a plan for the longer pass, rather than hoping for the best.  

As for substitutions and changes: 

1: Drameh and Pritchard replaced the two central midfielders. Buchanan returned to LB after a short stint at CB following the red with Drameh going RCB. Pritchard and JJ joined together in CM.  

2: Sunjic replaced Miyoshi with Pritchard moving to RM. He was asked to step infield from the right and support Stansfield and Bacuna.  

3: Southampton moved to a 3-1-4-2 shape after the equaliser with Sulemana and Edozie at WB and Rothwell deep in midfield.  

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Players 

I probably need to watch the goals back before lavishing praise on people and will do that before I write up my conclusions. 

However, huge praise for Bacuna who not only finished with a goal and assist but worked his socks off, made things happen and drove us up the pitch. His partner up top, Jay Stansfield, never let anything lie either, constantly chasing and harassing more powerful and real quality defenders.  

Behind them, Emmanuel Aiwu stepped out brilliantly for much of the campaign and deserves credit for being so aggressive, even if his work with the ball left plenty to be desired. Ethan Laird was full of beans down the right and it was good to see Lee Buchanan being braver down the left – clearly taken stuff on board.  

A final note: Cody Drameh stepping in at centre-back alongside Aiwu can’t have been easy but he showed no hesitation and made an important block or two.  

For Southampton, I simply marvel at their entire team and framework. They move the ball brilliantly and everybody knows their jobs and adapts in-game. Flynn Downes was always available. Jack Stephen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis barely put a foot wrong. David Brooks and Che Adams were brilliant. Stuart Armstrong classy. Just a fantastic team and comfortably the best I’ve seen this season.  

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Conclusions 

This was the best 90+ minutes of football I’ve watched this season.  

It was brave and bold from both teams. There was a real high intensity to the game. Both sides had clear ideas of what they wanted to do in and out of possession. Sure, there were a couple of errors, especially defensively, but that only added to the drama of the game.  

After a couple of games in which Blues half committed to their tasks out of possession, we really went for this. We were punished at times because Southampton are excellent – for my money, the best we’ve played this term – but we also hurt them. Perform near that for the rest of the season and fans will be positively bouncing going into the summer.  

It helps that the players are so into as well. Stansfield celebrating in front of the opposition dugout. Players, Laird in particular, playing cheerleader to fans. They want us involved.  

The goals.  

Firstly, I really enjoyed ours. The positivity involved. Bacuna showing good feet and finding Miyoshi racing forward on the other flank. Stansfield on his bike from a forward pass and reacting with speed and quality. Excellent running from Laird, a cute finish from Stansfield and Bacuna ready to finish from close range for the third.  

Those we conceded?  

The first goal I need to see a clearer view of the whole move. Why is Laird so far away from A.Armstrong when the goal is scored? Why does Buchanan find himself so far inside? How is it that Dozzell is chasing the striker or left-winger towards the box? Until I see the full move, I really can’t comment and break it down.  

The second is excellent from David Brooks – Premier League quality. It’s also the downside to going for an man-for-man approach against top quality opposition and the risk you take. Brooks cuts inside of Buchanan who takes an unfortunate slip as he tries to turn. Paik is tracking the forward run of Smallbone. Aiwu has stepped up onto S.Armstrong. Adams and A.Armstrong are occupying Sanderson and Laird. It leaves Brooks free to cut inside while others set themselves to both block the pass and turn towards the ball and while they’re reacting, Brooks is bending a fine effort into the far corner.  

The third comes via a poor clearance from Stansfield. The defence are seemingly anticipating Stansfield clears his lines and when that doesn’t happen, Smallbone puts in a cross that is teasing enough for Laird to commit to winning it and for aimed sufficiently that Adams can control it and squeeze the ball home. Again, top quality.  

I’m not convinced it was a red card and I’d be surprised if we don’t appeal it. I really can’t be bothered to get into conspiracy theories or demand action – it happens.  

Sanderson will probably be scolded by fans for stepping out but again, it’s the man-for-man approach. Smallbone plays into Brooks and beats Paik to the return. The return pass is a cheeky, round the corner flick that Buchanan can do little about – he has to guard against Brooks running in behind him and the move is swift. Sanderson is marking Adams and steps out because Smallbone is otherwise through. Smallbone reaches it first. Sanderson has to take him out.  

The main concern is that we potentially lose Sanderson for three games and with the new Krystian Bielik may be out for a period, we potentially have one fit centre-back in midweek, which is fun. It’s unfortunate, but we chose to let Kevin Long leave knowing we had four centre-back options, a talented academy and players who can drop into those roles where necessary. Time to suck it up, deal with it and hope somebody (likely Cody Drameh) steps up. 

The winner... for some reason we end up with Stansfield and Sunjic playing blocker against three centre-halves. It looks like James ought to have been there to, but I can’t confirm that from the highlights available at the moment. THB attacks the ball well and from there, as a defender, you just hope you’re in the right position. Unfortunately, it lands to Aribo who makes the most of the less-than-half-a-yard of space he has.  

The situation doesn’t look as pretty as it did last Friday before Ipswich but I can’t write us off on the basis of defeats against Ipswich Town and Southampton. Our away form isn’t great so games at Hull City and Millwall represent a different type of challenge, especially with tired legs likely on the back of Saturday’s efforts.  

I still think we need to average a point per game between now and the end of the season. I’m more than confident we do that. Especially if we play like we did Saturday.