Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Birmingham City 0 - EFL Championship

Sunday 15th April 2018
SkyBet EFL Championship
at Molineux Stadium
Wolverhampton Wanderers (1) 2
Diogo Jota 21
Benik Afobe 87
Birmingham City (0) 0
Admission FREE
Programme £3
Attendance 29,536

Wolves promotion back to the Premiership (that they last graced in 2012), was confirmed yesterday, when Brentford stunned promotion hopefuls Fulham, with a 94th minute equaliser at Craven Cottage to smash and grab a point, by virtue of a drawing 1-1.
Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers also drew (2-2), which means that the Tykes are now just two points behind Blues with a game in hand, while the Trotters are level on points with Garry Monk's side, but they have a marginally better goal difference (just one solitary goal as it happens) because of Wolves 2-0 win today. Having lost 3-1 at Bristol City in midweek, it looks as though Birmingham are going to take their fight for Championship survival down to the wire again, just like they did last year.
Losing back to back games at such a critical time, was the very last thing that Blues needed, but today's reversal wouldn't of come as a shock to any of their followers, who made the short trip to Molineux, more out of hope than with any kind of expectation.

I didn't bother taking any pictures today, because my perch, in the middle of a row, high up in the Steve Bull Stand, was less than ideal for taking a few snapshots, so I've recycled a couple from a previous visit I made to Molineux, to break up my tedious narration of the days events.
However, sitting with my head, quite literally, in the clouds afforded me a great panoramic view of how both teams had set out their stall for the day... and I could also see the snipers, who took potshots at each and every Wolves player, who was tackled by or even brushed past a member of the visiting team. So, they weren't cheating or trying to gain an unfair advantage at regular intervals at all. And having seen how many rounds were discharged in the general direction of  Ruben Neves, I decided not to shout out: "Oi Neves! Is your dad Mark bloody Spitz!?", which was probably just as well seeing as I was surrounded by people wearing old gold and black favours.

The best team in any league, generally speaking, is the one that finishes at the top of it. And to that end, Wolves have had a phenomenal season and I wouldn't imagine there would be any Blues fans who would begrudge them winning the title next season, by getting a result at the Macron Stadium, where they'll be playing Bolton Wanderers.
A draw up there would see them crowned as champions, while a win would be a great result for Birmingham City too. Blues will be facing Sheffield United at St. Andrew's on Saturday, while Barnsley head to Leeds United for a Yorkshire derby and the bottom two clubs: Sunderland and Burton Albion are playing each other.
Of course, Monk's side's fate is (just about) still in their own hands, but I'm quite sure that a few favours elsewhere wouldn't go amiss.

Blues set out to break up the home side's usual pattern of play, closely marking their more creative players and unsettling them with a few robust, firm but fair(ish) challenges. Subsequently Wolves never really got settled into any kind of rhythm and it wasn't until three minutes from time, that they fscored a second goal to secure their win against ten man Blues, who'd had Harlee Dean sent off in the 52nd minute for a mistimed challenge on Helder Costa.

The visitors manager himself said in the aftermath of defeat: "We came to try and make it more difficult for them and, had we taken our chances, we might have got something.

"The sending off didn't help. You need things to go for you when you're playing a quality side like Wolves."

While Wanderers head coach: Nuno Espirito Santo, suggested that: "Birmingham came to fight for something that was important to them. Some of their tackles were out of order." With all due respect, might I just say that if he thought his side got roughed up today, just wait until some of those big n' hard 'cultivated' super-fit crafty Premier League players. I'm not suggesting that the Portuguese tactician, actually told his players to hit the deck whenever they were tackled, but that is exactly what they did.
I hear that 'Nuno' is partial to playing a few Sam & Dave songs during his pre-match dressing room warm up and inspirational suggestion sessions. At least this is better than the Elvis Costello version.

Of course when your outfield players are scared of facing a few proper tackles and have gone into hiding, it helps them to have a big, uncompromising and in the form of his life lump, like John Ruddy as back up and early in the game, he pulled off two outstanding saves a matter of moments apart from Maxime Colin, who'd been played through on goal by Lukas Jutkiewicz. If one of those had gone in, then who knows? Of course, Wolves claimed that Colin was offside all along, because they appealed for anything and everything... but he definitely wasn't.
Wolves took the lead, at the mid-point of the first half, when Romain Saiss' knock, sent Matt Doherty on a forward run down the right flank and the spin on his cross took the ball away from Blues keeper David Stockdale's, but reached allowing Diogo Jota who knocked the ball into the invitingly open net.

Blues Jota seemed to be deployed in a left back berth, such were the options available to Garry Monk, while Wolves Jota, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid, looked like a proper handful and he was thwarted by Stockdale down by the post at the outset of the second half, the hill that Birmingham now had to climb, became that bit steeper, when Dean was red carded for a rash slide tackle on Costa, who had a clear route to goal, even though he was well outside Stockdales's area.
Dean's dismissal means that Blues have had a player sent off in four consecutive games against Wolverhampton. Dean was also sent off when the two sides last met, back in December.

Jutkiewicz shot from the right hand side of the Wolves goal but were denied an equaliser by that Ruddy goalkeeper again, who tipped the ball over his bar, while Michael Morrison was better placed and screaming out for a pass a few yards in front of the Wolves goal.
A goal for Blues and a subsequent 1-1 draw, would have been a testament to their application, worth ethic and 110% backs to the wall battling, if perhaps not their silky array of tippy-tappy football skills... But hey! When the going gets tough, the tough get laid in and take no effing prisoners.
However, late in the game, Birmingham's resolve was broken,, when Alfred N'Diaye, slipped a defence splitting pass through to Benik Afobe, who lifted the ball over Stockdale as he advanced from his line, and that was that... game over!
FT: Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Birmingham City 0