Match Report: Wigan Athletic 0-3 Blues

Blues' most convincing win of the season comes at the end of the most brutal schedule as Alfie May and Willum Willumson put Chris Davies' side back to the top.

Birmingham City stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions with a 3-0 victory at Wigan Athletic.

The hosts started the brighter but were undone by an Alfie May double and Willum Willumson finish that gave Blues their biggest margin of victory in the league since April 2023.

Chris Davies made two enforced changes, replacing the injured pair of Krystian Bielik and Jay Stansfield with Ethan Laird and Luke Harris while Dion Sanderson and Ayuma Yokoyama returned to the squad. The selection meant Tomoki Iwata and Willum Willumson would start all five matches.

The group were understandably not 100% and that showed early doors as Wigan, whose New Years Day game was cancelled, got on the front foot, pressed high and opened the game up.

Jonny Smith was the big outball for the Latics early doors and he twiced forced Ryan Allsop into action, the first a deflected effort kicked away and the second an effort from the edge of the box. The winger also dragged an effort wide after a corner was cleared, teed up Jensen Weir for a strike that was blocked and cut inside from his right-wing position to curl just wide of the target.

And then Blues scored.

Our first piece of quality play resulted in a corner that was cleared to the edge of the box. Blues were patient worked play so that Laird found himself 1v1 with Steven Sessegnon and his teasing left-footed delivery proved awkward with Sam Tickle pushing the ball away as far as Alfie May for a first-time finish.

Laird would have a huge impact on the game and he almost picked up a first assist of the season when a gorgeous cross from the right just evaded the head of the diving Taylor Gardner-Hickman.

Laird wouldn’t have much longer to wait, however. Blues had a spell of possession that dragged Wigan Athletic about. Paik Seung-Ho received and played a first time pass in behind Scott Smith, their holding midfielder sitting in at left-back with Sessegnon more advanced, and Laird made it count, showing speed and strength and then a cool head to tee up May for his second of the game.

The hosts needed a quick response and almost got it immediately when a cross from the right fell to Michael Olakigbe who showed a sure touch and fired through the legs of Laird and against the post. Sessegnon and Toby Sibbick would try their luck from distance before the half-time whistle.

Very little happened in the second half as far as goal action was concerned.

Blues ought to have made it three when an interception in the final third led to May being sent in behind. The striker was selfless, teeing up Willumson but the giant Icelandic international took a heavy touch when cutting inside of the last man and lost the chance.

He would get his goal just after the hour mark. Wigan were tiring and left Paik Seung-Ho in a huge amount of space with the South Korean searching for Laird on the right. He went at Sessegnon once more and quickly cut the ball back towards the penalty spot where Willumson was waiting unmarked to stab home first time.

Three shots, three goals, three nil.

Gardner-Hickman and Weir couldn’t test opposition goalkeepers from distance. Jason Kerr almost got one back for the hosts when he stabbed a loose ball in the area towards goal but Allsop and then Christoph Klarer were on hand to ensure the ball didn’t cross the line. Joseph Hungbo sent Lyndon Dykes in behind his own defence but a shot on the angle couldn’t beat Tickle.

Blues return to the top of the table.

---

Lineups

Wigan: Tickle; Sibbick Kerr Aimson (Payne 77) Sessegnon (Robinson 68); Weir Smith; Smith (McManaman 81) Aasgaard Olakigbe (Hungbo 68); Taylor (Hugill 81). Unused: Watson; Carragher.

Blues: Allsop; Laird Klarer Davies Cochrane; Iwata (Wright 73) Paik; Willumson (Yokoyama 95) Harris (Leonard 59) Gardner-Hickman (Jutkiewicz 95); May (Dykes 73). Unused: Peacock-Farrell; Sanderson.

---

---

Tactics

Blues lined up 4-2-3-1 as normal. It was a return to the RB/LW holding the width with Gardner-Hickman out wide left and Laird down the right. Willumson played an inside right with Harris the nominal attacking midfielder off May.

Wigan were brave out of possession and pressed as a narrow 4-1-4-1 and largely man for man.

The image below may not be the greatest given Allsop has already stepped backwards to go long, meaning Wigan players are retreating a little. However, it does show the approach Dale Taylor (ST) joined by Michael Olakigbe (LW) and Jonny Smith (RW) as a front three, Thelo Aasgaard and Jensen Weir (CMs) stepping up.

Allsop feints and clips the ball out to Cochrane who is immediately closed by Smith. The other four shift across to cut the space for Blues to play short. When Cochrane plays forward, he finds the feet of Gardner-Hickman (LW), who is closed down quickly Sibbick (RB) while Harris (CAM) is met by Jason Kerr (CB) stepping up. It did leave May (ST) alone with one marker but it was a risk they chose to take with Smith (DM) marking Willumson (RW) and Sessegnon (LB) watchful of Laird (RB).

This was the same whether the ball was clipped out left or right.

It was this reason that Allsop often decided against playing into the centre of the pitch to Iwata and Paik and often chose to clip it out wide to try and open the game out. What it did mean was that Blues could pull Wigan out of shape by beating the first man and dragging others over. It’s why Paik also began pulling out wide left and leaving Gardner-Hickman higher, with Paik able to receive and step inside, which would force others to leave their man or give Paik space to move into.

In terms of with the ball, Wigan opted for a 4-3-3 shape. The wingers would stand out on the touchline in an attempt to spread play with the full-backs tucking into midfield positions. This gave the Latics an outball whenever the option arose as well as being sufficiently set for the counter-press with Blues most likely to try and play through the centre of the pitch where possible.

In the image below, Olakigbe has crossed with the ball cleared to Smith. Taylor is joined by the two central midfielders in the box with the full-backs and Smith ready for anything that may come to the edge of the box.

In the image below, Aasgaard is switching play out Smith on the right-hand side with his team having five bodies in the centre of the pitch, forcing Blues infield to close the space and leaving Smith free.

It meant the challenge for Blues was similar to Wigan. Condense the space to play through the centre and force the ball wide, getting across quickly to deal with the impending danger from the flank.

In terms of play in defensive areas, Blues would match up in the centre of the pitch. The challenge was at what point May should be supported by one of the supporting cast in the press given energy was sapped in certain areas, with Blues not wanting to leave themselves exposed.

Wigan adapted twice second half.

The first was Luke Robinson replacing Steven Sessegnon at left-back, which helped give them some width with Hungbo floating a little more than Olakigbe.

And Kai Payne replaced Will Aimson, presumably due to a knock. Sibbick moved from right-back to centre-back. Scott Smith moved from defensive midfield to right-back. Kai Payne dropped into midfield.

---

---

The goals

All images taken from here:

A new segment to try out.

The opener came from a set-piece routine Blues have adopted a lot recently. We lack the real height and power of other sides, so we seem to have gone down the route of piling everybody into the box, which does leave us with spare bodies on the edge.

While we don’t appear to getting too much joy in the way of shots at goal, it does tend to help us recycle possession well during the second phase, and that’s what happened here. Wigan tried to clear but couldn’t connect cleanly, so Blues kept playing down the right-hand side. And it works out because as Wigan push out, Blues find themselves in 4v5 in and around the centre of the box. Players are reacting and there is space for May to be free once Aimson switches off.

The second goal is brilliant. Blues move the ball and we’ve dragged Wigan around. Olakigbe has joined Taylor in closing Klarer and Davies with Sessegnon following Harris to the halfway line. Iwata has vacated his position dragged Aasgaard back with Weir watching Willumson. Smith is therefore tasked with stopping Paik getting on the ball but switches off as he moves into a gaping hole in the centre of the pitch.

What happens next is that Wigan react and react poorly as far as shape is concerned. Weir leaves Willumson and attempts to close Paik which means Aasgaard leaves Iwata to close Willumson and Aimson steps up onto Iwata. So there is a huge space in behind for Laird to exploit and exploit he does.

Iwata occupies Aimson as Laird gets the better of Sessegnon. May is already running across Kerr. The job is simple once Laird has it under control.

The third is a sign of how the game was going – Wigan were tiring and Blues were getting lots of space in the middle of the pitch. Weir is now up against Harris rather than Paik, Smith is free and Kerr, Aimson and Sessegnon, who is tucked in out of shot, are watchful of May and Willumson. Too many spare men in Blues shirts, and we exploit it.

Things are reactive from that point. When Laird gets the ball under control, he can only go one way – on his right foot. Aimson is marking Willumson but as the closest central defender, his job will become the near post to stop the ball flashing across goal. Sibbick is marking Gardner-Hickman, Kerr is with May and Smith has Harris, but he is the only one to spot the danger of Willumson.

Smith reads the danger but can’t get there quick enough. And even if Willumson doesn’t reach it, Harris is now free and ready to read play.

---

Players

You could tell there were some tired bodies in Blues shirts but they got the key stuff right.

Allsop came up with two big stops early doors. Klarer and Davies were fantastic defending their box and moving the ball. Cochrane looked leggy early doors but grew into the game and found his range. Paik was Paik, playing a key role in two goals and just generally bossing the game after the opener.

Laird deserves huge credit. A key role in the first goal. Close to finding Gardner-Hickman with a cross before getting his first two assists of the season. The challenge now is repeating it. I don’t think anybody doubts his physical output or ability but more the inconsistency of his delivery and concentration levels. He seemed to be doing things more naturally here and it paid off.

I have to give Iwata a shout-out. It’s not that his use of the ball has been brilliant across the last three games and it’s notable that we’ve played into the middle of the pitch less of late. But his work ethic, willingness to make forward runs and snap into challenges has been fine. He even injured himself in the first half of this one and carried on for another 50 minutes. A proper warrior.

Willumson deserves similar praise. Again, he hasn’t been at his best of late but he’s done his best, tried to put the work in and I’m glad he got his goal as reward.

And Gardner-Hickman. He has now played as a right-back stepping inside, a right-back holding width, a right wing-back, a left-back, a defensive midfielder, an orthodox central midfielder, right-wing and now left-wing and attacking midfield. His energy has been crucial in the last two games and he deserves his flowers.

May got his double and never stopped until withdrawn – his ability to seek out space in the box means he will always be a threat but it’s telling how much better it comes off when we move the ball quickly. Harris was okay. He was busy, picked up some nice positions and was fine.

For Wigan, I really liked them early doors. Jonny Smith was the obvious spark from the right-hand side but I also thought Smith moved the ball well from the base of midfield while Aasgaard and Weir were comfortable. I just feel they are well-coached and organised but lack quality, experience and power, which means they are up against it.

---

---

Conclusions

Five games in under 12 days. Three wins. Two draws. One goal conceded. Back to the top of the table.

For all the concerns during this run about the schedule, tired performances, a lack of quality in the final third, Davies has shown his pragmatic side, the players have shown their willingness to play for the shirt and we’ve remained unbeaten.

This period has been brutal. The decision to move out game to Monday 23^rd with this schedule ahead was utterly barmy and it’s no surprise that other teams, who have mostly played four games in nine days, have reported similar issues in terms of legginess – and they don’t have the ability to change things around like us.

I think two things have been key reasons for our issues:

1: A lot of our players aren’t used to playing week in, week out in English football and this will have been an eye opener given the intensity.

2: The amount of change over the summer resulting in so many of our players not having a full pre-season with the club.

Therefore, those that have played so much during this period deserve credit.

Should they have played so much? I guess time will tell as far as injuries and so on are concerned. That said, the bench for our game with Wigan contained a centre-back who may be on his way out, a winger that has spent three months on the sidelines, a winger that is evidently raw and not trusted by Chris Davies and two strikers, with Alfie May relatively fresh up top. There’s only Marc Leonard, really, who would have serious claim to say “oi gaffer, play me”.

I actually want to shout out Leonard because while he will no doubt want more opportunities, he has kept his head down, worked hard and done whatever has been asked of him from the bench. Clearly a good character and it’s easy to forget he’s still a young man.

I suspect the next week will be about recovery with this period really taking its toll on us.

We’ve lost Lee Buchanan for the season, Keshi Anderson and Emil Hansson for a few weeks, Krystian Bielik and Jay Stansfield missed Wigan Athletic with knocks, Alex Cochrane is recovering from the gash in his foot, Christoph Klarer hurt his hip against Blackpool, Tomoki Iwata was hauled off injured at Wigan while both Ryan Allsop and Ben Davies were bandaged up following cuts.

We have been beaten up big time during this period. It’s why I’m so proud of the players for stepping up. We’ve seen time and again players sign for big money and go missing when it gets tough. Not this lot. Two goals conceded in nine league matches is some going.

And credit to the 4500 or so fans that made the trip to Wigan on a freezing cold day. Thankfully the players could give them a great send off for their loyal support over Christmas.