The lowdown on Birmingham City 1 Charlton Athletic 0 – Off colour Addicks undone by Stansfield
Charlton were narrowly beaten by the League One leaders at St. Andrew’s.
Here is the lowdown on the match.
THE LINE-UPS
Birmingham City: Allsop, Laird, Klarer, Cochrane, Davies, Paik, Anderson (Hanley 85), Willumsson (Dykes 66), Iwata, Dowell (Bielik 89), Stansfield (May 85). Subs not used: Peacock-Farrell, Wright, Harris.
Charlton Athletic: Maynard-Brewer (Mannion 45), Ramsay, Gillesphey, Jones, Edwards, Coventry (Leaburn 74), Campbell, Berry (Anderson 57), Docherty, Small (Kanu 57), Godden (Gilbert 74). Subs not used: A Mitchell, Aneke.
SNAPSHOT OF THE GAME
A single goal victory for the high-flying hosts. It came midway through the first half as £15m plus striker Jay Stansfield robbed Conor Coventry near halfway before striding towards the edge of the area and unleashing a fine strike into the top corner. Blues had the better of the first half and may have led by more. Charlton regained some composure after the break but lacked any cutting edge to really trouble their monied hosts.
TACTICAL APPROACH
Jones named an unchanged side for the 5th game in a row. The high-flying hosts dominated the ball from the off – before and after the goal. The Addicks were struggling to make it stick which led to a switch in shape at the break. Will Mannion replaced Maynard-Brewer at the interval. And Jones also tinkered with his formation, reverting to a back-four. This allowed Small to move inside into the midfield as the South Londoners recreated the box midfield that was so successful against Birmingham at The Valley earlier in the campaign.
But Small was soon replaced by Karoy Anderson, with Luke Berry dropping out for Dan Kanu in a move that saw Tyreece Campbell drift out wide.
Miles Leaburn and Alex Gilbert were introduced as a last throw of the dice. Charlton started to enjoy some more territory and mustered a couple of half-chances as the game wore on but never laid a proper glove on the home side.
STAR MAN
Lloyd Jones. Won more ariels than anyone else on the pitch and was part of a defence that limited Blues on the whole.
BEST MOMENT
Ashley Maynard-Brewer’s little go at being a sweeper-keeper early on. There was a nagging suspicion he may have handled outside his area, but the referee says he didn’t and we all know that the referee’s decision is final. So, nothing to see here.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
I expected the atmosphere at St. Andrew’s to be a bit better. It didn’t really liven up until late on but it wasn’t the sort of game to get a crowd overly excited.
A TALKING POINT DOWN THE PUB
Birmingham City are clearly streets ahead of the competition at this level. They showed flashes of it in the first half. But they barely got out of second gear after the restart.
Blues have the best defensive record in the third tier and handled all that Charlton were able to throw at them as they tried to push for a leveller.
The Addicks weren’t at their best at all. Tyreece Campbell had an off day. Thierry Small was completely stifled by the excellent Alex Cochrane. Those threats handled, Chris Davies’ side were able to see the game out in relative comfort.
Defeat at St. Andrew’s isn’t going to define the Addicks’ season. Birmingham are clearly in a league of their own. Just as they did after the loss at Rotherham United last month – it’s now up to the South Londoners to try and put this one behind them as quickly as possible and refocus on picking up where they left off against the other sides in the division as they try to continue their push for the play-offs.
WHAT THE BOSS HAD TO SAY
“It took an error to cost us. There wasn’t much in the game. We lacked a little bit of sharpness today. It’s the third game in a week, they’ve given everything.
“Coming to the league leaders we knew we needed to be at our best and we probably weren’t today. They paid us massive respect because they’re normally a fluid side, but they were very direct today. They went into front to bypass the press.
“A little bit disappointed with our performance but they’ve given me absolutely everything. It’s the third game in a week and we just lacked a little bit of bite. Our midfield wasn’t at it today.”
PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS