Match Report: Bolton Wanderers 3-1 Blues

Emil Hansson scores but goals from James McAtee, George Thomason and Aaron Collins inflict a rare defeat on League One table toppers Birmingham City.

Birmingham City's 18-game unbeaten run came to an end at Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night.

Blues took the lead through Emil Hansson's first half strike but goals from James McAtee, George Thomason and Aaron Collins inflicted just a third league defeat for Chris Davies' side.

The Blues boss made two changes from the side that beat Wycombe Wanderers at the weekend. Both were enforced with Ryan Allsop and Ethan Laird exiting that match through injury so Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Emil Hansson got recalls with Taylor Gardner-Hickman shifting from left-wing to right-back. Brad Mayo received a call up while Jay Stansfield returned to the squad.

The visitors started this one the better, having 68.5% of the ball at the point they took the lead and getting beyond the initial Bolton press. However, they were struggling to gain entry into key areas and it was Bolton who had the first chance when Jordi Osei-Tutu danced into the area and forced Peacock-Farrell into a stop low down.

Blues had their first chance halfway through the first period and made it count. Christoph Klarer took a quick free-kick that allowed Paik Seung-Ho and Kieran Dowell to find Willum Willumson in space. He played Gardner-Hickman in behind to cross and a deflection fell kindly for Hansson to half volley it into the net.

It was about as good as it got for Blues and Bolton fired a quick warning when more good work from Osei-Tutu led to Collins firing over the bar.

They got their equaliser before half-time with a brilliantly well worked move. Josh Cogley was found by Luke Southwood in space and popped the ball to Carlos Mendes Gomes. He took his time and found the run of Cogley, who swiftly played James McAtee in behind of Klarer. He went through on goal and smashed the ball into the near post with Peacock-Farrell almost falling over.

After a tame effort from Dowell on the edge of the box, Bolton thought they had scored again but McAtee was in an offside position. George Johnston then headed a corner wide and the hosts were on the front foot.

That continued into the second half and after some good pressure, they got their equaliser. Aaron Morley whipped a free-kick to the back post that Alex Cochrane headed the ball back into a dangerous area under pressure. A free McAtee nodded the ball back towards goal and George Thomason was quick on the uptake to make it 2-1.

The pressure continued. Collins had a shot blocked then fired over from a sharp corner routine. Johnston again got in on the action and had an effort blocked.

Davies switched up his attack and the game evened up somewhat only for the Trotters to get their third. It’s not one Ben Davies will fancy watching back, losing out on the initial header to Collins, being beaten in a race and then turned in the area as Joel Randall cut it back to Collins to finish. Game over.

It threatened to get worse. Collins saw a pea-roller fall kindly for Peacock-Farrell and Chris Forino headed over. Davies had seen enough and brought on Bielik for Iwata, moving to a 3-5-2 in an attempt to get something back.

It worked to a point. Bielik headed a free-kick on target and Stansfield produced some nice footwork before shooting at goal. A good spell of pressure late on ended with Paik smashing over the bar and it summed up our attacking performance.

The unbeaten run ends. Blues are nine points clear at the top of the table.

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Lineups

Bolton: Southwood; Toal Forino Johnston; Cogley Thomason (Matete 91) Morley (Sheehan 91) Osei-Tutu; Gomes (Randall 69) Collins; McAtee (Lolos 84). Unused: Baxter; Schon Murphy.

Blues: Peacock-Farrell; Gardner-Hickman (Sampsted 56) Klarer Davies Cochrane; Iwata (Bielik 81) Paik; Dowell (Stansfield 68) Willumson Hansson (Harris 56); May (Jutkiewicz 68). Unused: Mayo; Hanley.

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Tactics

Blues lined up 4-2-3-1 as normal with Gardner-Hickman and Hansson offering the width on either flank. Paik and Dowell drifted into slightly wider roles with Willumson and May having license to float. Iwata would occasionally make a forward run with Paik taking his position at the base.

Bolton played a 3-4-3. Their attempts to press Blues saw them push one of Morley or Thomason on to join the front three and the four would work aggressively across the Blues goalkeeper, back three and deep midfielders. If the initial press was beat, they would drop in quickly to support the midfield and defence. Elsewhere, the back five would step on when the opportunity arose, but they were careful not to be too aggressive and leave big gaps in behind.

Blues’ lack of speed and power in the final third meant they couldn’t look for a more direct pass and instead needed to play their way through and around the Bolton press.

The best way of doing this tended to be by creating overloads in wider areas to pull Bolton over and either look for movement in behind or to spread the ball out to the other flank. The former wasn’t forthcoming, particularly not with much speed, so reliance came on the latter. However, there were a number of times Blues attempted to turn inside or move it quickly only to give away possession.

Bolton’s 3-4-3 was fairly fluid. The back three would stick together but look to stretch the pitch when playing out. Cogley and Osei-Tutu would hold width initially. However, where Osei-Tutu would continue to hold width once in receipt of the ball, Cogley and Gomes (7) would rotate, the former stepping into a more narrow position while Gomes picked up a position on the touchline, as shown below:

Those two, McAtee, Collins and Osei-Tutu created a front five in attack that was designed to stretch Blues’ back four. And while they wanted to find the ball in behind, both Collins and McAtee showed themselves to be comfortable taking the ball on the half turn and skipping beyond the Blues midfield running back, which allowed them to spread the play either side. Clever football.

Where Blues mostly fell down, however, was the speed and quality of their press.

When Southwood had possession, Blues’ front three, Willumson and Paik would step onto the Bolton back three and central midfield. Once the ball shifted wide to whichever side, the team would step across, look to condense the space and force Bolton back or long, ensuring the switch wasn’t one to the spare man on the other side.

Bolton’s front five meant that in order to make this happen, Blues would push a full-back onto the wing-back with the rest of the defence shifting across to close the front three. The midfield would then do much of the heavy lifting closing space to stop the ball inside. But more than once, Blues were slow to step out, slow to close the space and slow to turn back once beaten in the initial press, meaning space arose in behind.

For a visual on this, see the goals section for the equaliser.

Blues switched up in the second half twice.

1: Stansfield and Jutkiewicz replace May and Dowell. Willumson moved from CAM to RW. Harris from LW to CAM. Stansfield arrived in LW. Jutkiewicz led the line.

2: Bielik replaced Iwata. Blues changed from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2. Bielik stepped into a back three, initially in the centre before moving to the right. Paik dropped into deep midfield with Harris and Willumson flanking him. Stansfield and Jutkiewicz paired up top.

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The Goals

Bolton 0-1 Blues

Blues are already in a slightly rotated position with Iwata and Gardner-Hickman on the last line of defence.

Bolton appear to be focusing more on getting back into their positions. Forino runs behind Iwata. Johnston moves across. Thomason half closes Paik and Willumson is allowed to move in behind. Paik plays to Dowell who quickly feeds Willumson into space.

Osei-Tutu has closed Dowell, so when Willumson finds space, Johnston has to step back inside to cut the central space off, leaving Gardner-Hickman free. Willumson gets central enough to create space for Gardner-Hickman on the overlap.

Blues get fortune with the delivery as Forino heads it into the path of Hansson. However, we get that fortune because we’ve taken up a good position – we're 3v3 in the area.

Cogley is trying to get a view of the ball so stops watching Hansson, who makes the most of the loose ball.

Bolton 1-1 Blues

Blues are generally in a decent position. The front three are closed down. Paik and Willumson have pushed on. We’ve got it right because Southwood is forced to kick wide to Cogley.

But Cochrane is hesitant and Hansson can’t close the space quick enough. So Cogley receives under little pressure.

This is the starting position after Cogley has knocked the ball forward.

Because Cochrane has closed Cogley, Davies is now marking Gomes. Klarer shifts across to McAtee and Gardner-Hickman watches Collins.

However, Cochrane has been beat. Now Davies has been beat. Everything else is reactive and the gaps are big.

Cogley finds McAtee behind Klarer. Gardner-Hickman can’t cover the space quick enough. Peacock-Farrell gets beaten at his near post because he can’t get himself set quickly enough.

Bolton 2-1 Blues

Set-piece is being taken by Morley. May is 10 yards away. Hansson is watching Osei-Tutu, just out of shot.

Dowell is at the front post then from him going back it is Paik – Iwata – Gardner-Hickman – Klarer – Davies – Willumson – Cochrane.

For Bolton, they have Collins in between Dowell and Paik. McAtee is in an offside position ready to block. Johnston – Forino – Toal ready to push their way into the box and Thomason is hanging around the back post.

The ball gets delivered to the back post. Gardner-Hickman, Klarer and Davies have to scrap it out with the three centre-backs which leaves Willumson and Cochrane at the back post.

However, Willumson moves to tackle Toal, which leaves Cochrane, who has already had an arm or two in his back amongst the tussle to deal with Thomason.

Cochrane does a poor job of dealing with it. He heads the ball back to McAtee and falls over in the process. So when McAtee heads the ball forward, Thomason is now free to get on the seconds.

The other big question is Peacock-Farrell. The ball is in the air a long time and Cochrane heads is on the six-yard box. Can he take control and punch it clear?

Bolton 3-1 Blues

A terrible goal to concede.

Blues are set as standard. The front four joined by Paik and Iwata to close down the Bolton back five. Paik admittedly does push himself ahead of Randall, who is trying to cheat.

As the ball is in the air, Davies goes to compete with Collins. Klarer, who was watching McAtee, tries to get back in. Randall, however, is free and on the run.

McAtee wins the flick. Klarer gets across and Sampsted is on the cover. Davies is with Collins. Paik and Iwata aren’t far away. We should be okay.

But Collins gets in front of Davies. Randall manages to cut the ball back behind Klarer in a clever piece of play. And Collins footwork to beat Davies, who is racing back looking for the block is brilliant.

The first and third goals go to show how well we’ve dealt with the first ball or two this season to avoid being opened up. Once beaten, we were killed.

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Players

Are we once again having a conversation about Bailey Peacock-Farrell? Okay.

Is he entirely at fault for goals 1 and 2? No. He’s not solely responsible. And I think we should be mindful that the thing about “goalkeepers should never get beat at their near post” is a myth as confirmed by a number of goalkeeping pundits and specialists.

Equally, do I think we concede those goals with Ryan Allsop in goal? No. I think he sets himself properly to have a good attempt at saving the first and he punches the second clear.

Why are we having this discussion? Because Peacock-Farrell has now played 16 games this season and I would argue he ought to have done better with goals scored against him in 7 of those. A near 50% hit rate.

• Leyton Orient away. He’s put under pressure and gives the ball away.

• Wigan Athletic. A shot goes straight through his legs.

• Wrexham. Soft goalkeeping from a set-piece.

• Peterborough United. He’s tackled a couple of yards from his goal line.

• Exeter City (EFL Trophy). A goal directly from a corner in the centre of his goal.

• Newcastle United. All over the place following the ball and saves it while a couple of yards behind his line.

• Bolton Wanderers. As above.

I don’t want to get too much into Peacock-Farrell v Allsop comparisons because it’s a little unfair. They’re two different goalkeepers with two different experiences and one has worked out far better for us than the other. At the same time, we went down a data-led approach this season, so there are presumably some comparable qualities to their game. Plus those numbers perhaps led to Peacock-Farrell beginning this campaign as number one. (I do confess there is a nagging doubt in my head about Peacock-Farrell being linked with us in years gone by, suggesting there might be slightly more than just the data involved)

I’ve no doubt there are desirable qualities to his goalkeeping profile. And sure, his data may be boosted somewhat by playing for Sheffield Wednesday in League One as well as Leeds United and Burnley during their Championship years, not to mention simply playing for clubs of those profiles.

What I mostly struggle with is the lack of conviction, lack of awareness and general indecision in his game. He doesn’t exude any confidence and when you don’t do that, it breeds a nervousness around the ground, which subsequently can have an impact on the team.

But, as mentioned, Peacock-Farrell wasn’t solely at fault.

The back four had it really tough. Gardner-Hickman should have been sent off early in the second half and Davies was sensible in bringing him straight off after he avoided that second booking. Meanwhile Cochrane was tasked with closing Cogley and both his timing and his recovery runs were off, unhelped further by Davies not being completely sharp and Klarer being unable to get across on the cover in time having been stretched by the Bolton backline. Cochrane and Davies played key roles in two of the three goals being scored and it wasn’t a great look. A game none of them will fancy looking back on kindly.

Midfield. Iwata’s off-ball work was better than his on-ball work, which makes it a curious thing to state that he looks tired. But some of his decisions in possession weren’t the best. Paik was the opposite, showing some good fight and quality in how he turned his man, controlled the ball, wanted to get forward, but he looked a little off it when it came to reading loose balls and seconds.

Willumson is getting some slack but I thought he was okay here. He’s looking a little leggy, but I thought he played a smart role in the opener and picked up some nice positions, the lack of runners really unhelpful. Dowell is probably similar, showing some nice touches but lacking that sharpness. Hansson was sharp early doors but as the game got away from us, he became less effective and began covering more ground that he would have wanted to. May got about and his touch remains fine but we’re struggling to get him into dangerous areas and he lacks the physicality to make something himself.

Sampsted was indifferent after coming on, a little shy defensively but some nice touches going forward. Harris ran about with little effect. Jutkiewicz was Jutkiewicz. Stansfield tried to make something happened but towards the end he was akin to being part of a naff 5-a-side team that has one good player who has to try and do everything himself.

For Bolton, the whole team deserve praise. To pick a couple out in particular, Osei-Tutu is the obvious one – he was fouled 9 times during the 90. I thought McAtee and Collins were sharp in their touch dropping off the front and deserved their goals. And I was taken to Toal and Johnston, who did their defensive jobs but were willing to step out and play.

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Conclusions

We lost. We were second best.

But it’s not the end of the world, is it?

We’ve just played 12 games in 40 days, including an FA Cup tie with Newcastle United, EFL Trophy quarter and semi-finals and 7 of the top 9 in League One, coming away with 8 wins, a place at Wembley and sitting 9 points clear at the top of League One. We’ve just seen an 18-match unbeaten run come to an end.

As I’ve said before, I don’t care that we’ve spent money. Sure, we should win because we have a very good team. But that doesn’t mean we have to win. The players and management team have had to step up again and again and again without letting up. Different shapes. Different ideas. Different opposition. Injuries and changes.

Fair fucks to the lot of them. They deserve the love we give them.

This proved a game too far. We started well, but when Bolton stepped up a gear, we just didn’t quite have it in us to match or stunt them. It happens. Bolton are a really good side and the change of manager has seen them showcase why they were second favourites for promotion in the summer. They were relentless, they got us at, they ran forward and we just didn’t react with the level of control that we normally do.

That’s it as far as the toughest games are concerned. We now face teams solely placed 10^th or lower at the time of writing. The league title is still very much ours barring the ultimate collapse. We’ve got a place at Wembley. We’ve had the big warning shot. Time to refresh, regroup and go again.

It’s Lincoln City at home next.

There is talk about Davies potentially making changes to rest players. I don’t think he will.

When we came off the back of that Newcastle United game, Davies went with arguably his strongest XI of the season next time out against Cambridge United to send a message. I think he’ll do the same here.

I do see there being a refreshing of the squad in general, however. A start for Stansfield. Anderson and Leonard could return and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the former start if he’s available. I think the bench will look stronger and give Davies more options, which is important.

KRO.