Copyright birminghammail
Birmingham City slipped to another defeat on the road in the Championship after Sinclair Armstrong decided their match with Bristol City. Armstrong raced away in the 42nd minute to score the only goal of the game at Ashton Gate and ensure Blues couldn't build on their victory at Preston on Tuesday. Blues controlled possession but they failed to properly test home goalkeeper Radek Vítek. Starting with four central midfield players, Chris Davies’ intention to dominate the ball was obvious and Blues started purposefully at Ashton Gate. Keshi Anderson cut in from the left-wing and fed the ball to the edge of the box where the returning Patrick Roberts was waiting to strike. Roberts’ effort skimmed the pristine playing surface as it whistled past the post. It is Roberts’ ability to create that attracted Blues to him in the summer and the winger’s ingenuity almost presented Anderson with a goal-scoring chance. Roberts whipped a pass in behind Bristol City’s defence but Anderson’s touch wasn’t perfect. He opted to set up Jay Stansfield instead but the shot was blocked. The hosts mustered their first meaningful attempt midway through the first half. Set pieces have been an area of weakness for Blues and the height in the Robins’ line-up, coupled with Scott Twine’s deliveries, was always going to pose a problem. Twine’s wicked right-wing free-kick was met by Rob Dickie but the header looped wide of James Beadle’s goal. Another strength of the Robins is their ability to counter-attack and that is how they took the lead three minutes before half-time. Rob Atkinson intercepted Paik Seung-ho’s attempted pass to Tomoki Iwata and fired a ball in behind for Armstrong to chase. Armstrong outpaced Phil Neumann and showed composure to place the ball into the bottom corner. Blues appeared ragged in the first 10 minutes of the second half and were fortunate not to fall further behind when Adam Randell put one on a plate for Twine to whip wide on the half-volley. Davies usually looks to his bench on the hour and he did at Ashton Gate. Demarai Gray, Lewis Koumas and Kyogo Furuhashi were summoned to replace Roberts, Anderson and Stansfield. Koumas quickly became Blues’ go-to man down the left. A wicked cross from the on-loan Liverpool man was flicked agonisingly over by Gray. Gray almost found Koumas late on with an equally dangerous cross from the other side that Mark Sykes did well to put behind for a corner. Blues couldn't find the all-important goal and travelled home empty-handed for the fourth time in seven Championship away games. James Beadle 6 Armstrong’s finish was well placed across Beadle and the goalkeeper didn’t have a lorry load of work to do. Beadle continues to look competent with the ball at his feet. Tomoki Iwata 6 Iwata played so many passes to Neumann at one stage that it became a tad frustrating but the Japanese midfielder clearly felt there wasn’t enough movement ahead of him. He showed his versatility but you can’t help but feel Blues need a natural right-back. Phil Neumann 6 Should Neumann have been better positioned to cope with the turnover that led to Armstrong outsprinting him for the opener? Maybe, but he couldn’t have expected Paik to concede possession so cheaply. Other than that, Neumann didn’t defend badly. Christoph Klarer 6.5 Other than one loose pass early in the second half, Klarer distributed the ball well and looked solid defensively. The Austrian did very well in a one-v-one with Twine inside his own box. Alex Cochrane 6 Cochrane coped well with McCrorie and Sykes and tried to get forward down the left in support of Anderson. Cochrane looks more comfortable with Anderson in front of him which creates a dilemma for Davies. Tommy Doyle 6 Doyle recycled the ball well and rarely gave it away at the base of Blues’ midfield without being able to play forward as much as he would want to. Marc Leonard 7 There’s a lot to like about Leonard at the moment and he deserved another start. The Scot provided good defensive cover – two aerial triumphs and four tackles won support that – and tried to instigate attacks. Patrick Roberts 6.5 Roberts was always going to play if he was fit enough and the on-loan Sunderland man showed his quality with one wonderful pass in behind that Anderson could have made more of. Paik Seung-ho 5.5 Paik’s poor attempted pass to Iwata allowed Atkinson to intercept and set up Armstrong’s goal. The South Korean is playing in flashes at the moment, occasionally showing his talent but doing nowhere near enough for a player of such ability. Keshi Anderson 6 Blues’ best moments in the first half involved Anderson but his touch let him down on more than one occasion. The winger made the right movements, his execution was off though. Jay Stansfield 6 Stansfield had limited service in the hour that he was on the field but you feel that he could have been better positioned in the first half when Anderson worked his way into dangerous areas down the left. Having said that, it was a surprise to see him taken off early. Demarai Gray (for Roberts, 61) 6.5 Had a half-chance to draw Blues level that he flicked over and fashioned a very dangerous cross from the right. Lewis Koumas (for Anderson, 61) 6.5 Koumas carried a big threat and looked to get at Sykes at every opportunity. There are raw materials that just need harnessing to make Koumas a force in this league. Kyogo Furuhashi (for Stansfield, 61) 6 Blues couldn’t create a chance for Kyogo on this occasion. The striker got back to clear on one stoppage time counter-attack. Lyndon Dykes (for Doyle, 75) 6 Tried to put himself about and provide another moment off the bench but it wasn’t to be. Marvin Ducksch (for Neumann, 85) N/A Not used: Allsop, Cashin, Sampsted, Fujimoto
