Birmingham City player ratings vs Stevenage as Stansfield puts Blues on the brink of Wembley
Jay Stansfield stepped off the bench to down Stevenage and book Birmingham City’s place in the semi-finals of the Vertu Trophy.
Blues’ 17-goal top scorer scored the only goal of the game at the Lamex Stadium in the 83rd minute. In doing so, Stansfield extended Blues’ unbeaten run to 18 matches and put the club one game away from a return to Wembley.
Luke Harris, who was one of eight players drafted into the XI by Chris Davies, had the game’s first meaningful chance inside 20 minutes. Patient build-up play by Blues saw the ball worked wide to Alfie May and he picked out Harris but the Wales under-21 international couldn’t guide his effort beyond Taye Ashby-Hammond.
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Scott Wright forced Ashby-Hammond into a better save with a powerful left-footed effort on the turn inside the box. The resulting corner was headed goalwards by Christoph Klarer but Stevenage cleared off the line.
Lukas Jutkiewicz made his presence known at the start of the second half to knock the ball down to Wright and he flew past Lewis Freestone before pulling the ball back to Kieran Dowell. Dowell absolutely leathered the ball towards goal but Ashby-Hammond was right behind it with a strong right hand.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell was largely a spectator in the first hour before making the save of the match to deny Elliott List. Krystian Bielik’s loose touch was pounced upon by List but Peacock-Farrell reacted sharply to win the one-vs-one battle and keep the scores level.
Davies made four changes in quick succession in a bid to settle the tie in 90 minutes. Tomoki Iwata, Keshi Anderson, Ethan Laird and Stansfield were all introduced before the 70th minute.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody inside the Lamex Stadium, it was Stansfield who decided the game. Stansfield strode onto a delightful pass from Marc Leonard with seven minutes remaining and nonchalantly flicked the ball past Ashby-Hammond.
The final minutes were played out to a chorus of ‘Que Sera, Sera’ with Blues dreaming of a first Wembley appearance in 14 years.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell 7.5
Peacock-Farrell looked assured in possession and made a vital save just after the hour when List looked destined to score. The goalkeeper produced a big moment when his team needed it.
Krystian Bielik 7
Aside from one lapse which let List in, Bielik was pretty good at right-back and he was denied a belting goal at the death when referee Declan Bourne blew up for a foul by Laird.
Christoph Klarer 8*
Klarer was dominant in both boxes and shrugged off a rough challenge from Piergianni in the second half to marshall Blues to another clean sheet.
Grant Hanley 8
A very solid first start for the experienced centre-back. Hanley defended well, making one important recovery challenge after Klarer had been done by Young in the first half, and distributed the ball well.
Alex Cochrane 7.5
Cochrane is a vital component of Blues’ defence and kept the Stevenage wideman Roberts quiet for most of the match. The left-back battled on after a knock in the second half to complete 90 minutes.
Marc Leonard 7.5
It wasn’t a vintage performance from Leonard but his mark gets bumped up for the brilliant pass to assist Stansfield’s winner. Leonard might be the best passer of a ball in the Blues squad.
Kieran Dowell 7
Dowell played in three positions and showed quality in all of them. The on-loan Rangers man is deceptively quick and ghosted past his marker on a few occasions. He might have done better with one shot at the start of the second half.
Scott Wright 6.5
When Wright opened up Freestone couldn’t live with his speed. He forced his way into some excellent positions but the end product wasn’t there.
Alfie May 6.5
May was short of service until Davies summoned the cavalry in the second half. The striker had one chance that he blazed over the bar before he was replaced by Dykes.
Luke Harris 6
Harris showed some neat touches but he wasn’t particularly effective on a rare start and it was no surprise to see him replaced early. The 19-year-old wasted Blues’ best chance of the first half.
Lukas Jutkiewicz 6.5
Jutkiewicz had a right battle with Stevenage’s two burly centre-backs and brought his teammates into play with some clever touches. The veteran target man didn’t have a clear sight of goal to open his account in the Vertu Trophy.
SUBS
Tomoki Iwata (for Harris, 57) 7
Iwata added a bit of steel in the engine room to swing the game in Blues’ favour. He picked up a harsh booking after conceding a foul that he didn’t agree with.
Keshi Anderson (for Jutkiewicz, 57) 7
Anderson was tidy in his work on the left flank and combined well with his teammates. One effort appeared to be heading in before it was blocked by May.
Ethan Laird (for Hanley, 70) 6.5
Laird matched Wright’s athleticism on the right flank to pile the pressure on Stevenage in the closing stages.
Jay Stansfield (for Wright, 70) 8
The man for the big occasion. It felt like a game for Stansfield and there was never any doubt when the striker went through on goal. Another important goal.
Lyndon Dykes (for May, 80) N/A
Not used: Allsop, Sampsted
Attendance: 2,812
