Birmingham City 1 v Burton Albion 1 - EFL Championship

Saturday 7th April 2018

SkyBet EFL Championship

at St. Andrew's  Stadium

Birmingham City (0) 1

Lukas Jutkiewicz 87

Burton Albion (0) 1

Lloyd Dyer 48

Admission £15. Programme £3 (free team sheet)

Attendance: 22, 311 (inc. 537 Burton fans)

Birmingham City:

David Stockdale, Maxime Colin (Cheikh Ndoye, 84), Maikel Kieftenbeld, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Harlee Dean, Jacques Maghoma, Jeremie Boga, David Davis, Jota, Michael Morrison, Wes Harding.

Unused subs -  Tomasz Kuszczak, Jonathan Grounds, Marc Roberts, Jason Lowe, Josh Dacres-Cogley, Beryly Lubala.

Burton Albion: 

Stephen Bywater, John Brayford, Kyle McFadzean, Darren Bent (Ben Turner, 64), Lloyd Dyer, Damien McCrory (Lucas Akins, 22), Tom Naylor, Marvin Sordell, Jacob Davenport (Luke Murphy, 83), Hope Akpan, Liam Boyce.

Unused subs - Harry Campbell, Jamie Allen, Martin Samuelson, Jake Buxton

A game that Birmingham City dominated for the most part, yet still one that they still needed a late equaliser to salvage a point out of, against the Championship's bottom side Burton Albion, in spite of having created twenty five attempts on goal, compared to a paltry six by the visitors. 

In the sixth minute, referee Darren Bond played an advantage after Burton conceded a free kick just outside  their area and Jeremie Boga ran on, rounded Stephen Bywater in the visitors goal and planted the ball into the back of the net.

But after a consultation with his linesman, David Avent, the referee decided that the goal wouldn't stand and instead, rather bizarrely, awarded Blues a free kick instead.
Boga took responsibility for the set piece and crashed his effort on target, but was thwarted by Bywater, who covered his ground quickly and made an excellent save to push the ball away.
The Brewers goalkeeper, did the work of three men today and kept Albion in the game, while Blues were also left cursing their luck when they also had two chances cleared off the line.

Burton Albion fans. I hadn't realised that the A38 was shut today.

In the second half, Jota unleashed a shot that came back off the right hand upright and David Davis beat Bywater from long range, but saw his dipping strike skim the top of the crossbar... but in the mean time, Lloyd Dyer, who has previously turned out for Blues as a loan signing, got onto the end of a slightly deflected delivery from Hope Akpan and put the visitors ahead.
To say that the Brewers goal was against the run of play, would be a massive understatement.
If Birmingham don't manage to pick up enough points to secure their Championship status, then today will definitely be regarded as two points lost as opposed to one won.

Although Blues have previously beaten Burton 1-0 in the FA Cup Third Round earlier this season; today's draw, meant that they haven't beaten the Brewers in all four of the league games that they have ever played against the East Midlands side... and as of today, Dyer has now scored in every one of them!
Garry Monk's side took on the guise of a relentless blue tide, crashing against the crumbling shoreline of the Albion goalmouth and finally, their efforts were rewarded, but not until there were just three minutes remaining, when Lukas Jutkiewicz rose majestically and met Jeremie Boga's right wing cross with a powerful header that Bywater could do nothing about.

The Met Office in the West Midlands and several surrounding counties reported seismic activity, while concerned residents in Bordesley and Small Heath rang the local radio station to report an earth shuddering tremor, as a crescendo of noise lifted the roof off of St. Andrew's... and moments later, the earsplitting din was almost even louder, when Jota's on target shot, took an unlucky deflection over the Brewers goal.
On any other given day Birmingham would've taken three points from this game, but regardless of the end result, you could not fault their commitment and application.

Although ultimately the home team hadn't actually won the day (but they really ought to have done), the unshakable belief that Garry Monk has already instilled in both his players, and the long suffering Birmingham City faithful, was clear for all to see at full time, in the manner that the fans responded as they generously applauded and raucously cheered their team from the pitch at the end of the game, while the team showed their gratitude for the unwavering support that they have been getting... and that mutual respect and enthusiasm is wholly warranted.

Because even though the supporters had just seen their side draw at home, against the bottom side in the Championship table, which hardly ranks as a prestigious result, they'd also witnessed a resurgent Blues performance, where the players went at it hammer and tongs for the royal blue cause and gave their all.
I think it would be a universally popular decision, if the club owners at St. Andrew's would now remove that all too frequently used revolving door from the managers office.

Before bringing this match overview to a close... if I might be so bold as to offer a few words of advice to the assistant referee, Matthew McGrath, who ran the line in front of the Kop towards the Tilton Road End this afternoon: Just because you were given a yellow flag to use today, it didn't mean that you had to wave it, frequently, in support of the team wearing yellow, nor did were you supposed to let the Burton back four make all of your decisions for you. Just saying.
FT: Birmingham City 1 v Burton Albion 1

After the game both manager's post match comments, more or less told the same story. which makes for a refreshing change.
Birmingham City manager Garry Monk said:
"We deserved to win that game, that's clear. We know that with the amount of good chances we had, we should have taken them and we need to be more ruthless.
"But to come from a losing position and get a point is typical of the spirit in the group, and every point is going to be vital.
"We know it's going to be a huge fight until the end of the season, it was always going to be, but I can't fault my players."

While his opposite number, the Burton Albion boss Nigel Clough offered:
"We were close again to getting the three points. It wouldn't have been, I don't think, particularly deserved on the performance today, but there's been plenty of times this season when we have deserved it and not got it.
"In the first half, despite being in a 4-4-2, we gave the ball away far too many times, and that gave Birmingham five or six chances in the first half.
"Stephen Bywater kept us in it, I think. They created and were playing with confidence. They created numerous opportunities all throughout the game."

The three teams directly above this bottom seven screen shot: QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, have probably, but not yet mathematically, done enough to stay out of the battle to avoid the drop zone.

Obviously there is still a hell of a lot to play for, but though Blues aren't entirely safe from the dreaded r word just yet, their case is strengthened somewhat, because some of the teams hovering around the trapdoor to League 1, still have to play against each other, so obviously points will be dropped among them as a consequence.

The 'Monk Effect' Roadshow, heads to Bristol City on Tuesday night and Wolverhampton Wanderers next Sunday, which will both be particularly testing games. Though you can't underestimate the physiological lift that momentum and a run of decent results gives any side who have hitherto been struggling.
Sheffield United then visit St. Andrew's on the 21st April, before Blues travel to Queens Park Rangers on the 28th and then entertain Fulham on the final day of the season (Sunday 6th May) Fulham, in a game that kicks off at 12.30PM.