Birmingham City turned in an impressive display against Premier League opposition - both on the field and off it
A get well soon message is displayed for Tom Wagner
A get well soon message is displayed for Tom Wagner(Image: Getty Images)
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Birmingham City went toe-to-toe with Premier League Leeds United for two impressive hours at St Andrew’s @Knighthead Park yesterday.
Having battled Leeds to a 1-1 draw, Blues eventually lost in a penalty shoot-out, with Tommy Doyle’s spot-kick saved by Lucas Perri and Patrick Roberts’ lifted over the crossbar.
It was a deflating end to what had been a raucous day but one easily reshaped into a positive. Blues had been a match for Leeds and been so without Paik Seung-ho who is out injured with a shoulder problem.
Indeed imagining a Blues team without Paik and Tomoki Iwata would have been almost unfathomable even a few weeks ago but Jhon Solis and Tommy Doyle did well in their stead.
However, there was more to the match that what occurred during the game, here’s a few things you might have missed.
Wagner gesture
It's probably incorrect to say anyone could have missed the tribute to Tom Wagner before and during the game, the unity and warmth towards the chairman was clear for all to see.
In the moments before kick-off a huge tifo was unfurled in the Tilton Road end lower bearing the message ‘Get well soon, Tom. Keep Right On’.
It was a fitting show of support after Wagner’s stroke means he is taking a break from his daily involvement with the club to recuperate.
That wasn’t it though, there were regular outbreaks of ‘Tommy Wagner is a blue….’ and after 13 minutes the same message posted on the giant screens, which drew a standing ovation.
Wagner will have been touched by that and also by the team’s indomitable spirit as they fought back from a goal down.
Personal message
Chris Davies spoke about Wagner’s situation in the build-up to the game, but he returned to the issues in his programme notes: He wrote: “We were all deeply concerned and shocked to hear that our Chairman, Tom Wagner, has recently suffered from a stroke. Everyone at the club is thinking of Tom and sending him our very best wishes as he focuses on his recovery.
“Tom has been a great support to me since I joined the club and I have the upmost respect for him as a successful businessman, but more importantly as a person.
“I know how much the club means to him and we will all look forward to welcoming him back to St Andrew’s as soon as he is ready. We are a team and in times of need the best teams pull together.”
Fans of Birmingham City display a large banner which reads "Get well soon Tom, Keep right on" in support of the teams owner Tom Wagner who is recovering from a stroke
Fans of Birmingham City display a large banner which reads "Get well soon Tom, Keep right on" in support of the team's owner Tom Wagner who is recovering from a stroke(Image: Getty Images)
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Leeds compliment
Daniel Farke’s post-match press conference started with a question about his team’s under-performance relative to their recent Premier League displays. He was quick to correct his inquisitor.
He pointed out that no-one at Leeds should be surprised at how tough a game it had been, after all they have spent more time in the Championship in recent years than they cared for.
Farke was fulsome in his praise of Blues. He said: “First of all, I have to say, really well done and congratulations to Birmingham. For us this was a really difficult, difficult game, like expected, a fantastic home performance.
“You could feel this team is in record form, I think eight games unbeaten and of course the stadium was buzzing. Everyone was on it today.
“We of course have rested a few players today and rotated a bit more than we would perhaps do for for a league game, but I think there's no question mark that Birmingham was the better side in the first half. They would have deserved to be in the lead.
“If you don't dominate the ball and dominate the game, it could be the case that you're a bit out muscled. This is what happened in the first half.
“Our setup in the second half was bringing our captain, our leader Ethan Ampadu, in a bit more physicality, changed the base formation, the way we set up, and by doing this we won a bit, step by step, more control over the game back.
“We were better at the pressing, better and keeping the ball and scored a well-taken goal from from Lukas Nmecha, but also Birmingham stayed in the game in the end was very tight, very game.”
Penalty stats
All that separated the teams in the end was penalties. Leeds scored from every one of theirs and in truth Ryan Allsop didn’t really ever look like saving any.
As mentioned above Perri, who had been dropped from Leeds’ Premier League side for several errors, produced a good save to deny Doyle.
Going into the shoot-out we made a quick check on the respective goalkeepers' records from 12 yards and while Allsop saved a couple last season, according to Transfermarkt he has in fact only stopped six of the 54 he has faced in his career.
By comparison Perri had saved three from 16 faced. Assuming the stats are accurate, one save in nine compared to one in five did not bode well.
Boot boy
Speaking of Nmecha, a summer signing from Wolfsburg, started up front on his own, in place of regular No. 9 Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The German got very little change out of Jonathan Panzo for most of the game, indeed he spent the first quarter of an hour backing into the Blues debutant and falling down in a vain attempt to win a free-kick.
That prompted him to come to the sideline and change his boots and after that he looked more steady on his feet. Very steady indeed when he clattered a rising shot past Allsop to give his team the lead. He might want to keep those boots after scoring for the third game in a row.
What did you make of Blues' performance? Let us know