Birmingham City 1-0 Ipswich Town - Half-Time Saturday, 31st Mar 2018 16:03 Jota’s 21st-minute penalty has given Birmingham City a 1-0 half-time lead over the Blues at St Andrew’s. Town named the same team which lost 1-0 away at Bristol City prior to the international break. Bartosz Bialkowski was in goal with Cameron Carter-Vickers, skipper Luke Chambers and Adam Webster the back three and Jordan Spence and Jonas Knudsen the wing-backs. Cole Skuse was in central midfield behind Callum Connolly and Grant Ward with Martyn Waghorn and Freddie Sears up front. Mustapha Carayol was back among the subs after his groin problem, while Australian striker Ben Folami, 18, was also on the bench. Birmingham made one change from the team which started against Hull City in their 3-0 win a fortnight ago with David Davis returning for the injured Craig Gardner. Ex-Blues loan keeper David Stockdale started for the home side, while Midlanders’ skipper Michael Morrison is from Suffolk having been born in Bury St Edmunds. Knudsen hooked away Maxime Colin’s second-minute knockback from a freekick from the edge of the six-yard box, then on three Jota shot well wide after Chambers had given the ball away. Birmingham continued to present the greater threat and on 10 Lukas Jutkiewicz was fed in on goal on the left of the box but Bialkowski forced him wide and then Carter-Vickers stabbed out for a corner. From the resultant flag-kick taken by Jacques Maghoma, the ball was cleared to Davis on the edge of the box from where he volleyed powerfully wide. Town, who had put themselves under pressure by needlessly giving the ball away in the early stages, didn’t threaten until the 15th minute when Ward sent over a deep cross from the right which found Knudsen. The Dane, who picked up his third full cap earlier in the week, opted to try to play inside to Waghorn rather than shooting himself, which looked the better option, but was unable to find the Blues striker. On 18 Sears almost profited from some defensive hesitancy by Morrison as a ball was played over the top but the home skipper recovered to slide the ball away from the Blues striker. Town had begun to make some headway but in the 21st minute they went behind via a debatable penalty. Maghoma burst past Carter-Vickers on the Birmingham left and as the on-loan Tottenham defender sought to get back the DR Congo international appeared to throw himself to ground. Referee Roger East pointed straight to the spot. After lengthy and vehement protests from the Town players Jota stepped up and beat Bialkowski to his left. There had been contact between the players but Maghoma looked to have gone down almost wholly under his own steam. Connolly’s shot from the edge of the area was blocked on 24 as the Blues looked to get back into the game. Five minutes later, Bialkowski reacted superbly to save Adams’s shot which had taken a deflection with his foot. Birmingham continued to create most of the game’s few chances. On 37 Maghoma’s corner from the left looped beyond Bialkowski, who was being blocked off by a number of home players, and Morrison nodded wide as the ball bounced up to him. Town failed to make much of a freekick from a promising position outside the area to the right moments before the half moved into one minute of uneventful injury time. Despite the contentious nature of the penalty, the home side deserved their lead at the break having most of the few opportunities during what had been a scruffy not overly-inspiring half. Town had never really looked like scoring, Knudsen choosing not to shoot when having the clearest opportunity. Birmingham: Stockdale, Harding, Morrison (c), Dean, Colin, Jota, Kieftenbeld, Maghoma, Davis, Jutkiewicz, Adams. Subs: Kuszczak, Roberts, Dacres-Cogley, NDoye, Lowe, Bailey, Boga. Town: Bialkowski, Carter-Vickers, Chambers (c), Webster, Spence, Skuse, Ward, Connolly, Knudsen, Waghorn Sears. Subs: M Crowe, Celina, Hyam, Gleeson, Kenlock, Carayol, Folami. Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire).
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