Match Report: Exeter City 1-2 Blues
Luke Harris and Keshi Anderson goals were enough to see Birmingham City win at Exeter City and move to the next round of the EFL Trophy.
Birmingham City progressed to the EFL Trophy Round of 16 thanks to a 2-1 win at Exeter City.
The win was Blues' fifth in a row in all competitions, the first time they have managed this feat since January 2012.
Luke Harris capitalised on a defensive error to open the scoring before Pierce Sweeney scored direct from a corner. Keshi Anderson's second half volley decided a competitive evening of action.
Chris Davies made eight changes to his starting XI with only Ben Davies, Ethan Laird and Luke Harris retaining their places. Keshi Anderson returned from suspension, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Ayuma Yokoyama made rare starts and Lee Buchanan returned to the matchday squad for the first time this season.
The game was competitive but lacked the same level of structure as a league match, meaning there were chances at both ends with space opening up.
Jack Aitchison had the first effort of note, seeing his shot from the edge of box blocked. His goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald then gifted Anderson the ball in his own area but he the winger was on the stretch when he shot and blazed over an empty net.
Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman linked up with the former shooting at a defender. The latter then found Anderson who cut inside and stabbed an effort wide.
Blues were having a strong period and made it count when Jack McMillan blindly passed to Ben Purrington under pressure from Anderson. Purrington won his challenge but the ball popped up kindly for Harris who slotted past MacDonald via the inside of the post.
Exeter responded in a strange way. Centre-back Sweeney delivered a corner that was whipped with pace towards the centre of the Blues goal. Under a bit of pressure from teenager Jake Richards, Bailey Peacock-Farrell moved ahead of the ball and couldn’t claw it away from the net. He sat in the net complaining to the referee as Exeter celebrated an olympic goal.
Both sides had one more effort before the break, Dion Sanderson heading wide at the near post before Millenic Alli got around the centre-back and fired over.
The second half started in similar fashion. Peacock-Farrell’s handling was tested by a free-kick before Gardner-Hickman curled just wide.
The hosts had their biggest moment around the hour mark. A cross from the right was headed against the back of Laird by Alli, who showed composure to pick out Jay Bird a couple of yards from goal. Davies through his body at the ball and Bird's rebound was somehow kept out by a recovering and reactive Peacock-Farrell.
Paik Seung-Ho replaced Buchanan and blazed over on the half volley. A smart move from the hosts ended with Alli again trying his luck from a tight angle and curling over.
A minute later, Blues had the ball in the net. Gardner-Hickman’s pass deflected against Reece Cole and sent Anderson in behind to score first time, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. It felt strange, but I confess to not knowing the rule book precisely enough to judge whether they came to the right decision.
It mattered little. After delivering a teasing cross that deflected kindly for MacDonald, Anderson got his goal. Yokoyama cut back on to his right side and delivered a ball towards the penalty spot. Anderson ran off his marker and volleyed in for 2-1.
Demetri Mitchell shot at Peacock-Farrell from distance. A Blues break ended with a May shot being deflected behind for a corner. Yokoyama then curled tamely at MacDonald.
Blues progress.
Lineups
Exeter: MacDonald; Sweeney Fitzwater Purrington; Harper (Niskanen 79) McDonald (Mitchell 79) Richards (Doyle 83) Aitchison (Cole 46) McMillan; Bird (Magennis 61) Alli. Unused: Whitworth; Cox.
Blues: Peacock-Farrell; Laird (Bielik 79) Sanderson Davies Buchanan (Paik 60); Gardner-Hickman Leonard; Anderson Harris Yokoyama; Jutkiewicz (May 60). Unused: Allsop; Klarer Iwata Stansfield.
Tactics
Chris Davies tried something new here.
Normally, Blues line up with one full-back holding the width and the other tucking inside to support the centre-backs. Here, Laird (RB) tucked in as part of the back three with Buchanan (LB) stepping into midfield alongside Leonard. Gardner-Hickman (CM) then stepped up as part of the front five with both wingers holding the touchline.
It’s not the first time Davies has experimented in this competition having previously asked Laird to play as more of an advanced midfielder from right-back vs Walsall, perhaps akin to what we tried with Willumson against Shrewsbury Town.
Exeter played a 3-5-2 shape. Out of possession, they would attempt to deny us by being brave from a low to mid block. The front two would marshall the back three, stepping over to press the wide centre-backs with Richards and Aitchison (CMs) pushing on to Leonard and Buchanan. Responsibility for tracking the front three was then the responsibility of the defensive midfielder and back three, who would step up with markers.
Blues were fairly slow in how they moved the ball at times, which meant they were able to force Blues back more often than they may have anticipated, but equally meant that space did arise at points for Blues to switch play or go through the centre of the pitch with Leonard and Gardner-Hickman seeing a fair amount of the ball.
When Exeter had the ball, they did try and play out. Their aim was to try and bait Blues to step up before going more direct, going 4v4 against our defence. To do this, they would ask McMillan (LWB) to step inside and send Aitchison and Richards into wider positions.
It meant Purrington could step onto his left foot or, the more likely route, they could play a more direct pass into Aitchison. And it worked at points. It pulled Anderson inside to close Purrington, Harris would step onto McMillan with Leonard and Gardner-Hickman also stepping up onto McDonald and Sweeney. That left Blues 4v4 at the back and Laird with a decision on whether to step out on to Aitchison, the danger man in the Exeter side, or leave Sanderson and Davies 2v2 against Bird and Alli, with Buchanan watching Richards in the centre.
However, it worked against them too. McDonald, McMillan and Purrington weren’t entirely comfortable turning out under pressure and things were tight, meaning MacDonald didn’t have much time to make a decision. Quality was lacking. And as shown for the Anderson chance early doors and the opener for Harris, they got themselves into difficult positions.
Players
A shout out to Keshi Anderson, whose efforts out of position in the press and individual battles has been excellent of late. His sharpness helped create the opener and his volley was excellent.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman was strong. He has now played:
Right-back holding the width
Right-back tucking inside
The base of midfield
Box-to-box midfield
Advanced midfield
Left-back tucking into midfield
He’s looked comfortable in every role. I saw @_chris96bcfc say he gives him Spector vibes and it’s hard to argue. Dependable and the type of player that generally enhances the quality and depth of a squad because he can cover so many roles with minimal fuss.
It was a good night for Marc Leonard, who controlled the midfield area. Ayuma Yokoyama wasn’t as involved as he may have hoped, but he was sharp every time the ball came his way. It was good for Luke Harris to get his goal.
Lee Buchanan returned. This wasn’t a night for judgement, especially in a new role. He was tidy enough. Getting fit and getting minutes is the aim now.
Dion Sanderson. I want to get behind him. I just don’t know if this brand of football is the one for him. I think he’s a British defender, one that is more comfortable being busy and in regular contact with opponents rather than defending oodles of space and being positionally aware. He’s young enough to develop those other traits, but I think we’re seeing why he performed better under Eustace and Rowett as opposed to Rooney, Mowbray and Davies.
Peacock-Farrell made a fine reactive stop to deny Exeter a second and deserves credit for it. Unfortunately, he's a goalkeeper and we’re gong to judge him on the errors he makes. Yes, Richards gets a little hold of his shirt and backs in. I don't think most goalkeepers allow the situation to reach that point. Instead of giving Richards a shove at the right time to allow himself space to deal with the corner, he tries to climb over the teenager and his body position is all wrong when attempting to claim the delivery. And maybe I’m being harsh, or criticising because of a part of me just expects Peacock-Farrell to be at fault at this point, but I don’t think Allsop or Ruddy concede that goal.
For Exeter, I thought he had difficulties against us in the first game, but Jack Aitchison is a clever footballer. He seems aware of the space around him and just needs a bit more support at times. It’s easy to see why they rate Jake Richards too. Bundles of energy and tenacity.
Conclusions
Despite the changes, it’s clear that owners, manager, players and fans want to go far in this competition.
This wasn’t a perfect display with Blues broke on more than once and fortunate not to go behind. Yet that bit of steel and mettle and quality that is becoming a trademark of our side this season shone through once more.
That’s now five wins on the bounce. Those matches have taken place across 13 days and four have been away from home. We’ve made ten and eight changes to our normal XI for both cup games. This run shouldn’t be sniffed at whatsoever.
I don't mind Davies using these opportunities to try something different tactically. In early pre-season, it was quite common for Koji Miyoshi to stay wide with Ethan Laird making inside runs from right-back and staying high up the pitch. We saw similar against Walsall and Shrewsbury and something new here.
I actually think Davies simplified the complete tactical blueprint he has in mind for the benefit of the group and expectations and we may see more of this stuff in time. We are slowly seeing little additions to our game, such as the mirrored shape, Cochrane being braver from deep and Paik drifting out wide to collect the ball. As the squad improves and we bring in more tactically flexible footballers, we will see more rotation and complexity in our play.
It’s Bristol Rovers at home this weekend as we bid to make it six on the bounce.
It’s a game we ought to win. They are underperforming given the options at their disposal and their xG numbers are poor with Rovers sitting 20th for non-penalty xG, 23rd for non-penalty xG against and 24th by a distance from xG against from set-piece situations.
If there is anything in their favour, it’s that while we have seven games in three weeks, they enter this one fresh after 11 days off. And despite their performance issues, they possess some talented individuals and a squad that ought to be looking further up than down in my opinion.
From a Blues perspective, Davies has confirmed Cochrane is out for a period thanks to a nasty gash in his foot. Personally, I reckon Cochrane is the type that would just want to strap it up and carry on and hates the fact that he had to be stretchered off last weekend. But precautions are precautions and it’s better to lose him now than at the business end of the season.
I assume Sampsted and Wright are still out. Hansson was back in with the group last week so we could see him this weekend while it will have done Buchanan some good to get the cobwebs off with an hour of football. I’m doubtful that the illness suffered by Willumson and Dykes was sufficient enough for them to miss over a week of action and they should return.
I'm guessing we'll make two changes from the side that beat Barnsley. Anderson for Cochrane, with Laird moving to left-back, and Willumson back in for Harris. We’ll likely enter the weekend having to leave out four of Sanderson, Buchanan, Khela, Yokoyama and Jutkiewicz. A nice place to be.