Match Report: Charlton Athletic 0-1 Blues
Birmingham City advance to the second round of the EFL Cup thanks to a Brandon Khela wonderstrike at the Valley
A Brandon Khela beauty was enough to give Chris Davies his first win as Birmingham City manager and send his team through to the second round of the EFL Cup at Charlton Athletic.
The teenager was one of many enduring a tough start to the game but he ventured forward just after the half hour mark and tried his luck from distance, joyfully watching the ball curl into the far corner.
Blues controlled the game from that point until a needless second yellow for Dion Sanderson left Blues needing to see things out with ten men.
Davies made eight changes here, Sanderson, Ethan Laird and Marc Leonard the trio to remain in the XI. Ryan Allsop, Christoph Klarer, Khela, Emil Hansson and Luke Harris made first competitive starts with Tyler Roberts, Keshi Anderson and Lukas Jutkiewicz also named.
Blues were having most of the play but giving it away in poor areas, which is what Charlton wanted. Luke Berry half volleyed over and after Khela gave the ball to Berry, a move progressed which led to a penalty, Roberts fouling Tyreece Campbell. Fortunately, the youngster’s penalty was tame and saved. A moment later and Berry was half volleying over again after Khela headed a cross back into a dangerous area.
It took about 20 minutes for Blues to have a real effort, Roberts firing over from the edge of the box but another giveaway from the left, this time Luke Harris being the culprit, allowed Berry to fire just wide.
Blues needed something to settle the team down and we couldn’t have asked for a better moment. Keshi Anderson progressed, turned and found Khela advancing from left-back. He cut back on to his right foot and curled a sumptuous effort into the far corner.
It did settle us down, Blues dominant for the rest of the half. Klarer headed two set-pieces off target before Leonard struck wide via a deflection.
The second half was comfortable, even if there was an early moment of concern as Harris was dispossessed and Campbell curled narrowly wide of the top corner. Blues immediately went down the other end with Jutkiewicz going wide after good work from Anderson and Roberts.
The quality increased after the first round of substitutions, Paik found in behind, turning Karoy Anderson and forcing a stop at the near post before Alfie May failed to make the most of a one on one.
And it was fairly comfortable until it wasn’t, and so unnecessarily so. Alex Cochrane completely miskicked a clearance and rather than go to the ball, Sanderson, who had been booked earlier in the half for needlessly handling a ball into the channel, lazily tugged back Daniel Kanu for a second yellow.
Blues held out. Charlton captain Greg Docherty had an effort blocked from a set-piece, Conor Coventry blazed high and wide from distance then Docherty had the best chance, somehow avoiding a challenge before firing wide from a tight angle.
Another good learning curve as Blues advance in the cup.
Lineups
Charlton: Mannion; REG (Mitchell 66) Jones Gillesphey; Watson (Ramsey 76) Berry (Docherty 66) Coventry Anderson (Edun 66) Small; Kanu Campbell (Aneke 66). Unused: Maynard-Brewer; Mitchell Edwards Ahadme.
Blues: Allsop; Laird (Sampsted 69) Klarer Sanderson Khela (Cochrane 58); Roberts (Paik 58) Leonard; Anderson Harris Hansson (Bielik 80); Jutkiewicz (May 58). Unused: BPF; Miyoshi Dembele Yokoyama.
Tactics
Blues lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Roberts playing next to Leonard and Harris just ahead. However, Harris and Roberts had license to advance and drop in when required with Leonard firmly running things from the base.
Laird was again more advanced with Hansson offering the width on the other flank, giving Anderson license to float and join Jutkiewicz in the centre of the pitch. He, Roberts and Laird dovetailed nicely down the right and showed a good level of intelligence to progress, even if the final decision wasn’t always the right one. Khela, meanwhile, had the role of sitting in a central position as part of a back three and once he showed a little more courage in possession, stepped on and looked for Harris and Hansson.
Out of possession, it was pretty much man for man. Harris and Roberts stepped onto Coventry and Anderson with Leonard tracking Berry. Jutkiewicz and the wingers stepped into a narrow three with Khela and Laird closing the Charlton wing-backs, the other covering to support the central defenders.
Charlton tended to try and miss out a player in possession, looking to exploit the channels, particularly down the left where they had the speed of Small and Campbell.
Otherwise, it was about being aggressive out of possession, winning individual battles or waiting for a Blues mistake, which happened once too often in the opening half hour with Berry in particular sharp.
Charlton occasionally built out wide but their delivery was generally poor with several crosses finding the fans behind the goal.
After the red, Blues adopted a 4-4-1 shape with Harris stepping out to the left and May running himself into the ground up top.
Players
First rounds of the cup are often interesting. Players can get an opportunity to impress and force their way into the XI. So, let’s play good night, bad night.
It was a good night for boyhood Bluenose Allsop who saved a penalty and dealt with the few crosses and set-pieces that came into his area. Laird was better than the weekend. Klarer looked pretty comfortable and it’s clear that he offers a set-piece threat too. Leonard oozes quality. Hansson has quite possibly played himself into the XI and Anderson again had a good impact – hopefully that was nothing more than cramp at the end.
It was a bad night for Sanderson, whose bad decisions led to a needless red card. Especially on the back of a less than impressive display Saturday and the end of last season. The two yellows came across as lazy defending and it’s so needless. It was a tough night for Harris too, who definitely has quality but looks slight and needs to sharpen up to senior football. That will come.
Khela falls inbetween. Playing out of position has to play into judgement but he was having a tough evening with nothing coming off until he produced that moment. His body language changed after and he stepped up.
The same for Roberts too. He gave away the penalty which will likely eat at him but he looked comfortable in his new role, as he did in pre-season. He’s an excellent technician, got involved with Laird and Anderson and I’m curious about the reasons for his early substitution – was it fitness, Davies not fancying him or is he being looked after ahead of Saturday with Willumson struggling with his knee?
For Charlton, I thought Berry stood out. A really intelligent display. The speed of Campbell and Small will always be threat – not many will ruin Laird over a short distance.
Conclusions
Another interesting evening as we continue this learning curve towards being a good football team.
Facing a team in the same league is generally a bit boring but this probably suited us in many ways, facing strong League One opposition and continuing to play our football and learn on the job.
I thought the 90 represented further progress and it was again tweaks and details that needed improvement. We are doing a good job of beating the press and finding a way out of our defensive third with short, sharp play or overloads out wide. The next challenge is to tidy up the quality and positioning in the final third and that will come. We’re making silly areas in possession and it’s about showing more composure and quality with the ball.
I can’t deny being a little gutted not to see Yokoyama make his debut so we could see a little bit of him, but I suspect any attempts to do that were thwarted by the red card. George Hall and Romelle Donovan not being involved was a shame too, even if understandable.
On the subject of Hall, it looks as if he’ll be off on loan. I think it’s the right call. He doesn’t have a natural fit in this XI to my eyes and with his fitness issues, it’s about him getting out and playing senior football. I don’t believe the level matters as he’s proven himself in the Championship already in spurts. It’s just about game time and fitness and the teenager becoming comfortable with his body again.
Wycombe Wanderers ended last season in excellent form and will fancy their chances of catching us cold at the weekend. Backing up Tuesday in a tough encounter on the road won’t be simple and we should absolutely expect more nervy moments. There will come a time where our football looks a lot smoother but that doesn’t happen within the first week of the season and as fans, we will have to endure some awkward moments.
Finding a way to win, and at worst not lose, is important right now. Getting back-to-back wins at this stage of the campaign would be fantastic.