Three is the lucky number as Blues get 3 points on the road and 3 unbeaten

Birmingham City vs Stoke – 20th January 2024  

Birmingham City came into this fixture off the back of a successful run of games beating the likes of Hull in the FA cup and drawing with Swansea, which is a positive improvement. Currently sitting 20th in the championship table looking to climb their way up during this second half of the campaign.  

First Half:  

Blues take on Stoke at the Bet 365 stadium filling out their allocation of 2,604 tickets. Blues kick off the first half and look to start strong on the front foot, but the game is open for the taking by both sides.  

The 10th minute is approaching, and Myoshi plays a blinder of a ball through to Stansfield who finishes it clinically to put it past Stoke goalkeeper Iversen to make it 1-0 to his side. Blues weren’t done there as Dembele picks up the ball on the left flank and manages to nutmeg the oncoming defender and break away using his pace to his advantage, but nothing would prevail as he was stopped in his tracks by the Stoke defender.  

Stoke are now starting to find their rhythm in the game creating a few break away chances due to the lack lustre defending of the Blues back line causing a few issues for Ruddy, but he was able to hold his own making numerous great saves to keep Blues in the lead.  

Late into the first half Mysohi is pulling the strings once again providing another chance for Stansfield to add to the score, but he is shrugged off the ball in the penalty area despite the eruption from the away supporters nothing is given to their despair.  

Birmingham go into the second half feeling confident as they have the upper hand over Stoke thanks to the composed strike from Stansfield.  

Birmingham City 1-0 Stoke City 

Second Half: 

Stoke kick off the second half looking to get back into this contest, but Blues are quick to it and manage to gain possession early on.  

Dembele drives into the opposition’s half looking to cause a problem for the Stoke backline, but he lays the ball off to Bacuna who is brought down on the edge of the box giving blues a great chance to go 2-0 with a freekick in a dangerous position. Bacuna steps up and takes the freekick pulling out a sublime finish as the ball is wrapped into the top left corner of the net giving Blues a 2-goal lead.  

Blues are carrying the momentum pressing high and containing possession.  

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In the 70th minute Stoke are constantly trying to forge a way through when a ball is played across the Blues 6-yard box and Jordan Thompson is in the right place at the right time to slot it past Ruddy halving the deficit giving stoke a glimmer of hope to try and gain a point out of this game.  

Mowbray now decides to introduce new recruit Andre Dozzell in the 71st minute for Ivan Sunjic to try and control the game as Blues were starting to feel the pressure only having a 1 goal advantage needing to bring all 3 points back to Birmingham. Mowbray makes another substitution a few minutes later bringing off Bacuna for Long to try and reinforce the back line for the remainder of the game.  

The fourth official adds 6 minutes on which is not what Blues are wanting to hear as Stoke fire everything at Blues to try and get a last gasp point out of this match, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts and Mowbray’s men manage to hold on and take all 3 points from Stoke.  

Referee: Samuel Barrott  

Attendance: 25,058  

My Overall Thoughts of the game:  

I thought that in the first half we could have held possession a little better because we were giving it away to easily which was adding unnecessary stress to the game which could have been avoided if we were a bit more composed on the ball. Apart from that we played great especially Myoshi setting up Stansfield for the opener. In the second half in my opinion, we played exceptionally well as you could see the confidence and that we felt in control. To add to that with Bacuna’s incredible freekick we were exactly where we wanted to be having a 2-goal advantage away from home. Towards the last 20 minutes or so of the game our tempo and concentration dropped off a little. We were allowing Stoke to have more chances, one of them resulting in a goal which was not ideal, but the team managed to come together and hold out even though Stoke were giving it their all. That’s all I could ask for and I’m ecstatic with the three points. I’m hoping to see more from Dozzell as the games keep on coming.  

Looking forward to Leicester in the next round of the FA cup.  

KRO Bluenoses.