Birmingham City player ratings after the 3-0 beating by Sheffield United at Bramall Lane
Tommy Doyle of Birmingham City leaves the pitch after being shown a red card
Tommy Doyle of Birmingham City leaves the pitch after being shown a red card
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It was the nightmare before Christmas for Birmingham City as Sheffield United battered them 3-0 at Bramall Lane.
Blues gift-wrapped a couple of goals for Tyler Bindon and Gustavo Hamer before half-time and were reduced to 10 men inside 18 minutes when Tommy Doyle was given his marching orders.
Patrick Bamford sealed a convincing win for the Blades with a goal shortly after half-time to cap another miserable away day for Blues.
Barely five minutes had passed before Sheffield United took the lead through a goal that must have infuriated Blues manager Chris Davies.
Bindon was unchallenged when he met Hamer’s right-wing corner to head past Ryan Allsop. Bindon started in place of Mark McGuinness who scored a carbon copy of this set piece routine two weeks ago against Stoke City.
United almost scored a second when Callum O’Hare – one of the smallest players on the pitch – met Sam McCallum’s long throw-in but Allsop tipped his header away from danger.
Blues’ day took a turn for the worse in the 18th minute when Doyle was dismissed for a rash challenge on Hamer. The midfielder lunged in dangerously right in front of both benches and referee Simon Hooper had no choice but to send him off.
Blues shot themselves in the foot when Keshi Anderson presented an early Christmas present to Hamer midway through the half. Hamer collected Anderson’s blind pass before rounding Allsop to slot in United’s second.
Gustavo Hamer rounds Ryan Allsop to score Sheffield United's second goal
Gustavo Hamer rounds Ryan Allsop to score Sheffield United's second goal
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That was Anderson’s final involvement as Davies replaced him with Marc Leonard.
Blues reached half-time without further punishment but they were undone five minutes after the restart. Oliver Arblaster’s shot from the edge of the box was turned in by Bamford from close range.
United poured forward in search of more but Allsop did well to deny Hamer, Tahith Chong and McCallum.
Blues had few sights of goal in the second half before substitute Lyndon Dykes stabbed an effort into the emptying away end 12 minutes from time.
Ex-Aston Villa striker Danny Ings might have made it four late on had it not been for a recovering challenge from Christoph Klarer after Blues had been caught out down their right.
Klarer nor his teammates were anywhere to be seen when the ball dropped to Tom Cannon 12 yards from goal but the other United substitute fired wide.
Fortunately for Blues, it didn't get any worse, but that didn't save Davies and his players from the wrath of their own supporters as they approached them at full-time.
Ryan Allsop 5
Three goals conceded but Allsop held it together in the second half and didn’t take any chances with his distribution.
Tomoki Iwata 5
Iwata has lost his way at right-back a little bit of late and Blues could do with him back in midfield, particularly now that Doyle is suspended, but whether Davies will trust Alfons Sampsted is another matter.
Phil Neumann 4
Neumann set the tone with an early yellow card and he was dragged around by Bamford in one of his most humbling Championship games to date. Blues’ defensive performance this season is under the spotlight and Klarer won’t be the centre-back they look to replace.
Christoph Klarer 5
The skipper was also booked early and isn’t above criticism for these poor defensive showings we are witnessing away from home. This poor run will be another test of Klarer’s leadership.
Jack Robinson 5
Robinson isn’t a natural left-back but wasn’t completely outdone by the dangerous Chong. A similar performance to the one he produced at QPR in that he didn’t do anything wrong but he doesn’t offer Blues what Alex Cochrane does in the position.
Tommy Doyle 2
An avoidable red card when Blues needed cool heads and Doyle will now miss three crucial games. The midfielder is vital to Blues but they must now do without him.
Paik Seung-ho 4
Blues need a better version of Paik away from home but they were never going to see it after 20 minutes which saw them fall behind and reduced to 10 men. Paik was happy to hold his position and minimise the damage.
Keshi Anderson 3
Anderson’s last involvement saw him present the ball to Hamer for the game-clinching second goal. The winger didn’t take a rare starting chance.
Willum Willumsson 5
A surprise start for Willumsson after almost four months out injured and one positive from this game is that he managed an hour.
Demarai Gray 6
Gray whistled a shot inches over the bar early on before Blues shot themselves in the foot at the back. He carried Blues’ threat before Davies decided to wrap him up in cotton wool for next week’s double-header.
Jay Stansfield 5
Stansfield tried to run the channels and provide his team with an outlet but the game was over quite quickly.
Sam McCallum of Sheffield United controls the ball whilst under pressure from Jay Stansfield of Birmingham City
Sam McCallum of Sheffield United controls the ball whilst under pressure from Jay Stansfield of Birmingham City
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SUBS
Marc Leonard (for Anderson, 30) 5
Apart from almost gifting United a goal straight after half-time, Leonard put himself about in a midfield battle that was never going to be won.
Eiran Cashin (for Robinson, 63) 5
Cashin didn’t do anything wrong in another outing at left-back and replicated what Robinson offered.
Lewis Koumas (for Gray, 63) 4.5
There must be talent in there, otherwise he wouldn’t be at Liverpool, but this was another forgettable cameo from Koumas who had chances to get at full-back Seriki and didn’t do it until stoppage time.
Lyndon Dykes (for Willumsson, 63) 6
Dykes was prepared to battle United’s centre-backs and at least had a shot.
Patrick Roberts (for Stansfield, 84) N/A
Not used: Mayo, Sampsted, Ducksch, Kyogo
Attendance: 28,271 (2,712)
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