Birmingham City player ratings after Christoph Klarer saved the day at Stockport
Birmingham City escaped Edgeley Park with a point on New Year’s Day after drawing 1-1 with Stockport County.
A late header from Macauley Southam-Hales cancelled out Alfie May’s opener before Christoph Klarer denied Kyle Wootton the winner at the death. Blues drop to second in League One courtesy of Wycombe’s win over Exeter City.
Blues registered their first goal of 2025 inside five minutes at Edgeley Park. Taylor Gardner-Hickman was initially denied by Stockport goalkeeper Ben Hinchcliffe but Blues regained possession and May sumptuously curled a shot home from the edge of the box.
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May had gone six games without a goal since netting a brace in Blues’ 2-0 win over Stockport at the beginning of December. League One’s reigning Player of the Year clearly likes playing against the Hatters.
Blues’ number nine had a big chance to double Blues’ lead on the stroke of half-time when Willumsson capitalised on a slip in Stockport’s defence to race away. Willumsson played a perfectly weighted pass to May but the striker’s shot was too close to Hinchcliffe on this occasion.
For the first time in a while, Blues had to settle for the smaller share of possession in the first half of a League One game. For all their possession, Stockport had to wait until the second half for their first meaningful chance.
It fell to Jack Diamond via a clever knockdown from Kyle Wootton. Diamond dragged his effort narrowly wide of Ryan Allsop’s goal.
Chris Davies reacted by making a triple change on 65 minutes. Marc Leonard, Scott Wright – who was making his first appearance since mid-October – and Lyndon Dykes were introduced to try and swing the balance back in Blues’ favour.
Blues failed to stem the flow of Stockport attacks and the equaliser arrived with 12 minutes remaining. A cross from the left caught Blues cold and Southam-Hales climbed above Alex Cochrane at the far post to head past Allsop.
Southam-Hales wasn’t finished. He almost won it for Stockport with a thunderous strike from distance that hit the foot of the post.
Wooton had the chance Stockport’s fans had been hoping for. The striker pounced on a loose back pass to round Allsop but, with the goal gaping, Christoph Klarer slid in to deny him a stoppage time winner.
Ryan Allsop 6
Allsop made a few strong claims under pressure as Stockport swung crosses into his six-yard box. The goalkeeper couldn’t have done much about Southam-Hales’ header.
Krystian Bielik 6.5
The Blues captain shifted back over to right-back and conceded space down his side that Stockport exploited to put crosses in. Bielik won five aerial challenges but he couldn’t divert a late header on target.
Christoph Klarer 8
Klarer made some vital interventions late on to keep Stockport at bay. The Austrian relishes the defensive challenge and made a brilliant challenge to keep Wootton out in stoppage time with the goal gaping.
Ben Davies 7
The on-loan Rangers man never shirked a challenge alongside Klarer and rushed to get back on with a bloodied head late on.
Alex Cochrane 6
Cochrane found the going tough at times against a physical Stockport side and he wasn’t able to fend off Southam-Hales late on.
Tomoki Iwata 6
Iwata never had control of the game at Edgeley Park. It was a rare occasion where Blues’ midfield was outfought in a League One game.
Paik Seung-ho 6
Paik had to dig in and battle at Edgeley Park as Stockport moved the ball wide and prioritised crosses. The South Korean was a bit-part player for once.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman 6
Gardner-Hickman should have netted his first Blues goal just before May opened the scoring. He plugged away by winning tackles but he could have been a bit tidier in possession.
Willum Willumsson 7
Willumsson got the assist for May’s goal with a simple pass after starting the move with a lovely through ball for Gardner-Hickman. He set May up for another chance and was involved in most of Blues’ best moments in the first half.
Jay Stansfield 6
Stansfield didn’t have much to go at on what must have been a frustrating day for Blues’ record signing. He was on the fringes of a game in which Blues didn’t create much.
Alfie May 7
May produced an outstanding finish to put Blues in front and went close to another just before half-time. He wasn’t involved in the game after half-time.
SUBS
Marc Leonard (for Willumsson, 65) 6
Leonard has stepped off the bench to calm things down this season but he couldn’t get his foot on the ball at Stockport.
Scott Wright (for Gardner-Hickman, 66) 5.5
The winger has been out for more than two months so we shouldn’t be surprised that he looked rusty. Wright was on the end of some hard challenges.
Lyndon Dykes (for May, 66) 6
Dykes tried to stretch Stockport’s defence but he had little joy. Most of the game was being played in Blues’ defensive third by the time Dykes came on.
Ethan Laird (for Cochrane, 87) N/A
Luke Harris (for Stansfield, 87) N/A
Not used: Peacock-Farrell, Jutkiewicz
Attendance: 10,528
