Burton Albion 1-2 Town - Match Report Saturday, 28th Oct 2017 17:07 Bersant Celina came off the bench to curl home a brilliant 89th minute freekick and complete a Blues comeback as they came from behind to beat Burton Albion 2-1 at the Pirelli Stadium. Ben Turner put the Brewers deservedly in front before Martyn Waghorn equalised prior to Celina's late stunner. Mick McCarthy has named an attacking line-up featuring all four of his frontline strikers, David McGoldrick, Joe Garner, Waghorn and Freddie Sears. The Blues started in a system with Sears, Garner and Waghorn ahead of McGoldrick playing in a role between the front three and deeper midfield pairing Cole Skuse and Tristan Nydam. The injured Tom Adeyemi dropped out of the team for Sears, who scored in both games against the Brewers last season, while Kevin Bru was on the bench for only the third time this season. For Burton, keeper Connor Ripley was handed his league debut, while right-back John Brayford misses out with a hamstring injury. Former Blues striker Luke Varney and ex-loan keeper Stephen Bywater were among the Brewers’ subs. The first chance of the game fell to the home side, Jake Buxton flicking Matty Lund’s sixth-minute freekick from the left straight at Bartosz Bialkowski. Two minutes later, Marvin Sordell saw a shot deflect wide for a corner. From the flag-kick, the ball eventually ran to Turner at a tight angle on the left from where he hit a shot into the side-netting, some of the Brewers support initially thinking it had gone in. Town struggled to make too much headway in a tight opening to the game in which Burton gave the Blues little time on the ball and they were largely limited to long balls forward to their front three which the home defence dealt with comfortably. Presumably as a result, after Sordell had undergone treatment in the 18th minute, Town tweaked their system with McGoldrick moving to the right side of a three behind Garner with Waghorn in the centre and Sears to the left. Town had looked to catch the Brewers on the counter-attack from the off but were unable to do so until the 27th minute when, after a decent Burton move had broken down, McGoldrick found Sears breaking in space on the left. However, the former Colchester man’s cross flew beyond the far post and out for a goalkick. The Blues eventually began to make more of an impression and on the half hour Waghorn cleverly turned away from his man midway inside the Burton half before playing in McGoldrick, whose low shot was saved down to his left by Ripley. Moments later, Garner struck an effort from distance which appeared to catch a Brewers player on the way wide but referee Simon Hooper gave a goalkick. Town’s two strikes led to sarcastic chants of ‘we’ve had a shot’ from the Town support behind the goal at the other end. Burton were next to threaten, Sordell hitting a low shot from 20 yards which Bialkowski spilled. However, the keeper was able to block the follow-up from Lund at point-blank. The Brewers had an even better opportunity in the 35th minute, Sordell feeding in Dyer on the right of the area but Bialkowski saved with an outstretched boot as the winger looked to shoot across him into the far corner. The wind that Town had played into all half got stronger as the half wore on, Bialkowski finding harder and harder to get distance on his long kicks. On 44 Lund shot wide from not far outside the area, then just before the period moved into one additional minute, McGoldrick was sent away on the left but the Blues frontman could only find the side-netting. Seconds before the whistle there was a big scare for Town when Sordell was sent away behind the backline - the former Watford man looked to have been well offside - but fortunately for the Blues he shot wide. The end of the half was greeted by boos from the Town support, the Blues having been underwhelming throughout the half, unable to gain the upper hand, impose themselves on the game or retain the ball. Burton had had much the better of the period and might well have been ahead but for some less than clinical finishing and a couple of stops from Bialkowski, who really ought to have been worked more. Town would need to be much better after the break if they were to return to winning ways. The second half started much as the second had ended, along with this season’s first chants of ‘Mick McCarthy, your football is s–t’ from the travelling fans. Lund hit a 50th minute shot from the edge of the box which was blocked, then Stephen Warnock’s cross from the left flashed across the Town area without a Burton player being able to add a touch. Town almost carved out the game’s opening goal in the 52nd minute, Waghorn doing well before Garner threaded in McGoldrick but Jake Buxton made an important challenge. From the corner, a Burton defender inadvertently and fortunately looped the ball straight back to Ripley. Blues skipper Luke Chambers was subsequently booked, apparently for hampering the keeper as he looked to clear quickly, although it seemed harsh. The game was becoming more open and Burton weren’t far away from going in front in the 55th minute when Luke Murphy hit a shot from the edge of the box which Bialkowski superbly tipped wide. But the Brewers, who had gone five games without scoring prior to the match, weren’t to be denied for much longer. Lund sent in the corner from the right, Garner was unable to rise high enough and Turner behind him nodded over Bialkowski and into the net. As the home fans celebrated, the chants from the Town support regarding McCarthy’s style of football immediately restarted. The Blues immediately switched Nydam for Bru, who was making his first appearance of the season, and Burton swapped Jamie Allen for Matty Palmer. As the game reached the 65th minute mark Town finally began to put the home side under some sustained pressure. Garner saw a number of crosses from the right blocked and eventually a loose ball fall to him 20 yards out and the Blues’ top scorer slammed his seventh of the season through a crowd of players and into the net to level. The goal lifted Town and in the 71st minute they should have gone in front. Waghorn out-battled Kyle McFadzean inside the Burton box to the left and found himself one-on-one with Ripley at a tight angle with Sears breaking to the far post. Waghorn opted to shoot with the outside of his boot and Ripley helped it past the post. On 72 Sears was replaced by Grant Ward, then three minutes later, with the Blues’ confidence evidently growing, McGoldrick cut in from the left and smashed a shot not too far wide. Soon after, former Blue Varney replaced Sordell for the Brewers. Waghorn was booked for a foul on Murphy on 78 as the Town support called for the introduction of on-loan Manchester City winger Celina, whose future with the Blues beyond the turn of the year has been the subject of speculation following an ambiguous tweet last night. With six minutes remaining the fans got their wish, the Kosovan international taking over from McGoldrick. And what an impact he made. On 89 the 21-year-old looked to find room for a shot as he brought the ball in from the left following Bru’s short corner. Eventually he tried to play a pass into the box, then was unceremoniously sent flying by a wild Warnock challenge which may have been fortunate to draw only a yellow card from referee Hooper.
Celina took the freekick himself and brilliantly curled the ball to Ripley’s left and into the net to send the Town support wild. The goalscorer himself took his shirt off and threw it deep into the Blues supporters at the side of the pitch before celebrating with his team-mates and those behind the goal before posing Cristiano Ronaldo style. After the lengthy process of getting his shirt back from the crowd was completed, Celina, who has taken his goals tally to four, accepted his yellow card. Having taken the lead, Town looked a completely different team to the one which had laboured for much of the match and might even have scored again, with Waghorn unable to turn a Ward cross from the right home, then Celina not too far away from a second having cut in from the left but Ripley blocked. Burton never looked like getting an equaliser in the closing minutes and Hooper’s whistle confirmed Town’s first win after three successive defeats. The Blues deserved to be behind to Turner's goal after a thoroughly drab first hour but had started to get on top ahead of Waghorn's goal. Town were the more likely victors having equalised but without creating too many opportunities before Celina's brilliant winner. The result sees the Blues move up one place to 10th, one point off the play-offs ahead of Tuesday's trip to third-placed Cardiff, who drew 0-0 at home to Millwall today. Burton: Ripley, Warnock, McFadzean, Buxton (c), Turner, Murphy, Allen (Palmer 59), Lund, Akins, Dyer, Sordell (Varney 76). Unused: Bywater, Flanagan, Naylor, Akpan, Barker. Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Webster, Chambers (c), Knudsen, Skuse, Nydam (Bru 59), Sears (Ward 72), Waghorn, McGoldrick (Celina 84), Garner. Unused: Gerken, Iorfa, Connolly, Downes. Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire). Att: 4,110.
Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
You need to login in order to post your comments |
   Blogs 295 bloggersIpswich Town Polls[ Vote here ] |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
