Match Report: Mansfield Town 1-1 Blues
Blues are held to a draw at high-flying Mansfield Town as Lee Gregory's free-kick cancelled out Willum Willumson's opener.
League leaders Birmingham City were held to a 1-1 draw at Mansfield Town on Saturday in an early-afternoon kick-off.
Blues were comfortably the better side across the first half and took the lead early on when Keshi Anderson pulled the ball back for Willum Willumson to fire home.
It wasn’t the same story in the second half with the Stags still in the game. They equalised through a Lee Gregory free-kick and were the better side for much of the remaining minutes.
Chris Davies made two changes to his starting XI, welcoming Lyndon Dykes and Jay Stansfield back into the team with Emil Hansson unavailable through injury and Alfie May benched. Luke Harris returned to the squad after an ankle problem kept him out.
The game was a hit and miss affair early doors but Blues soon got hold of the ball and punished their opposition with their first effort. Dykes found Stansfield in space and the youngster played out wide to Keshi Anderson. Anderson teased Elliot Hewitt before cutting the ball back for Willumson to fire in off the post.
Blues weren’t quite at their best but limited Mansfield to a sole shot in the first half, George Maris’ effort deflecting kindly for Ryan Allsop. Before that, Alex Cochrane and Tomoki Iwata had fired over from distance while Dykes’ effort was deflected wide.
The visitors should have gone two ahead when Christy Pym gifted the ball to Anderson but Willumson was wasteful in a 1v1 situation. Paik Seung-Ho blazed over, as did Dykes following a nice move down the right. Stansfield couldn’t turn home a minute later after Cochrane won the ball high. Paik again tried his luck but was off target iwth the effort.
Blues quickly got back on the front foot in the second half, tidy play leading to Anderson crossing for a stooping Dykes header straight at Pym before Paik was denied on the edge of the area.
Davies’ side still weren’t quite at their best, however, and the lack of intensity would soon cost them. His players failed to move the ball down the right and Christoph Klarer was forced to take action, taking out Keanu Baccus. Mansfield players questioned whether it should have been a penalty but it needn’t have mattered as Gregory sent his effort straight through the Blues wall beyond Allsop.
The visitors should have responded quickly. Anderson was found in behind substitute Lucas Akins but his effort struck the heel of Pym. Dykes turned to put the ball into an empty net from around six yards but his swing of a boot sent the ball just wide of the post.
It was the best Blues would muster for the rest of the game as they failed to play with the same control. The game became chaotic and it suited the hosts.
A ten-minute spell of chances started with Akins unable to connect sufficiently with his head. Will Evans was wayward when the ball found him on the edge of the area. Marc Leonard sent a free-kick way over the bar before Stephen McLaughlin shot on target and Evans headed over. Anderson and Harris linked up leading the former attempting to lob Pym from inside the area to no avail. A long ball allowed McLaughlin to again test Allsop before Evans failed to make the most of an opportunity having raced in behind 1v1.
The final notable effort of the game saw Evans blaze over. Blues finally gained some control in the game to finish up but lacked any real quality as the game ended in a draw.
Lineups
Mansfield: Pym; Bowery Oshilaja Cargill (Blake-Tracy 46); Hewitt (Akins 46) Baccus (Quinn 79) Maris (Flint 46) Lewis (Boateng 62) McLaughlin; Gregory Evans. Unused: Flinders; Waine.
Blues: Allsop; Laird (TGH 71) Klarer Davies Cochrane; Paik Iwata (Leonard 71); Willumson Stansfield (May 59) Anderson (Yokoyama 79); Dykes (Harris 71). Unused: Peacock-Farrell; Sanderson.
Tactics
Mansfield lined up in a 3-5-2 with Maris sitting deep in midfield, flanked by Lewis and Baccus.
When Blues build from deep:
The front two split the Blues back three
Wing-backs are quick to get tight to Blues’ wide players
Lewis v Iwata
Baccus v Paik
Willumson, Stansfield and Dykes are man marked by the remaining four, with centre-backs following Blues’ forwards into their own half
Blues weren’t quite at it in possession, struggling to get a quick rhythm going. It meant that Davies and Allsop saw more of the ball than usual. It worked, however, as Mansfield struggled to cover ground across the front, allowing Blues to get the ball back out to the wide centre-backs quickly.
At times, Allsop took a more aggressive position in possession, almost becoming a centre-back partner for Davies to help split Mansfield further.
Out of possession, Blues typically went for a front five approach. Willumson joined Stansfield and Dykes in closing down the back three with Laird and Anderson up against the wing-backs. That left Blues’ midfield and back three up stepping up high onto the five central players.
Mansfield want to be bold and play through Blues’ press but had difficulty doing so, often being caught with the first pass forward.
Change at half-time. Oshilaja into deep midfield. Flint centre-back.
Mansfield went more direct in the second half, avoiding the pass into the centre and instead looking for Gregory and Evans, who were brave and stayed closer together in order to support. The longer passes were aimed more towards feet and gave the strikers more of a chance of holding it up. And as Blues became worse in possession, their midfield and attack were able to be braver and get on top of the individual battles they were able to have.
Players
Not a good day for Blues players.
It’s hard to drill into any individual, it was largely a team thing. There were flashes, but nothing consistent and the moment the opposition increased their intensity, we struggled. That said, it didn’t surprise me to see Iwata come off early. The booking probably played a part but he looked leggy.
Dykes and Stansfield came into the side. Stansfield was rusty and definitely needs more game time to get up to speed. I thought Dykes did okay and helped give us a foothold in the first half, but he does look a player that hasn’t played much football recently.
For Mansfield, Lee Gregory showed why he has spent much of his recent career in the Championship and remains a good, experienced operator. Aden Flint had a good impact from the bench, offering some power at the back.
Conclusions
We can’t win them all, right?
This was a strange game.
We were dominant in the first half. We led the game. We had 73% of the ball. We won the shot count 12-1. I also think we outworked Mansfield and ought to have scored another.
But I don’t think we looked or felt completely like us. We looked a little off the pace. We were in first gear and exploiting gaps but were happy to take the easy route too often. The patterns were there but we also used Davies and Allsop too often as a safe zone. Maybe I’m being overly critical, but I don’t think we had the same kind of territory we so often have in matches during the first half.
We didn’t get out of first gear in the second half and our sloppiness caught up with us. Perhaps there’s judgement against other matches but we were almost caught out while complacent against Lincoln City and Bolton Wanderers, so it was no surprise when we were caught out here by a tame free-kick that went straight through our wall.
The talk post-match is that we shit the bed once Mansfield got on top and to a point that is true. However, that spell only lasted ten minutes. Between minutes 68 and 78, the Stags had seven of the ten shots they mustered during the 90 minutes and the possession was split almost 50-50. It was chaotic, not controlled, and suited our opponents.
From the 79th minute onwards, we had 78% of the ball. We had wrestled back control, we just didn’t do anything meaningful with the ball. We didn’t have a shot. We tamely delivered crosses and took the easier route. We needed to find an extra gear that didn’t come.
Lessons for Davies to learn. It’s the second time we’ve reached the end of a three-game week looking worse for wear.
He did try and change up the attack, to his credit. Could he have made more changes? It’s easier to say in hindsight.
Do you want to change out the best two midfielders in the division? Do you change a back three that hasn’t conceded a goal from open play since Peterborough? At the same time, Davies and Iwata have had little football in recent years while Paik and Willumson have been on international duty. Maybe they need a rest. And does resting these players now benefit us further into the season?
We’re still top. We’ve still only dropped points twice since opening day. We’re still dominating big portions of matches. It’s just tiredness and complacency we have to guard against. Our biggest opposition at times is ourselves.
We now play another three-game week. Fortunately, the next two are cup matches.
I expect a lot of changes for Fulham U21’s - I don’t think we will be bothered all that much by the fine for not keeping a certain number of players in the starting XI. Peacock-Farrell, Sampsted, Sanderson, Leonard, Gardner-Hickman, Harris and Yokoyama could all return. Then it’s National League Sutton United in the FA Cup the weekend.
Let’s get back on track, into the next round of both cups and settle down before Northampton Town.