Birmingham City 1-0 QPR
by Gene Sylvester
at St Andrew’s stadium

ST ANDREWS hosted a mid-table clash between Birmingham City and QPR that should have been a much closer match-up than the game suggested with the west Londoners coming into the game only two points behind their Midlands opponents.

But the home side bossed the game from the opening whistle, with only themselves to blame for not racking up a more resounding scoreline, however, this was one of the more resounding 1-0 wins that you will see as Chris Davies’ boys kept up their hopes of sneaking into a play-off place.

Ibrahim Osman started the game like a man possessed, replacing talisman Demarai Gray in the starting line-up, and the Ghanaian who arrived on loan from Brighton in the summer, fully justified his inclusion with an all-action first-half display.

QPR right-back Amadou Mbengue must have known he was in for a torrid evening as early as the 2nd minute of the game when the fleet-footed Osman was played in behind the fullback only for his attempted left-footed cross to whistle just over the QPR crossbar, despite the cross being intended for Marvin Ducksch in the middle.

But it was a sign of things to come when 3 minutes later, the Birmingham City winger left Mbengue for dead again on the touchline before cutting in and delivering a low cross into the middle of the box where Patrick Roberts swept home a left footed low shot past Joe Walsh in the QPR goal.

A couple of minutes later, the home side had a strong penalty shout turned down by referee Anthony Backhouse when the impressive Jay Stansfield found space down the right before cutting a low ball back to the edge of the box.

City midfielder Paik Seung-ho arrived perfectly to strike the ball first time, but instead feigned his shot prompting Ronnie Edwards to throw himself to the ground in an attempt to block, but in doing so, his arm that he used to steady his fall seemed to inadvertently scoop the ball away from the South Korean midfielder, but the referee waved away the Blues players’ appeals.

The home side should have been out of sight by half-time with further great opportunities to double their lead falling to Osman, Stansfield and Ducksh, but a combination of poor finishing, last-minute blocks and shots straight at the QPR keeper saw them go into the half-time break with the slender lead.

Julien Stephan’s troops were unable to register a shot of any kind during the first 45 minutes, and their first effort at goal came two minutes after the restart when Mbengue barged through a couple of challenges in the middle of the park and then fired a wild shot high and wide from 30 yards out.

The away side’s first shot on target came in the 70th minute when substitute Kwame Poku fired in a low left-footed cross shot from the corner of the box which City keeper James Beadle was able to gather fairly comfortably on the stretch.

The fresh legs of substitute Gray caused QPR problems on the break as the away side pushed for an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game with the winger presenting a great opportunity to fellow sub Carlos Vicente to score, but the Spaniard’s effort was blocked by Edwards.

The 1-0 result did not represent the dominance that the home side enjoyed on the night with them having no less than 21 attempts at goal. Manager Davies will be keen to improve that ratio with upcoming games against fellow play-off rivals Sheffield United and Derby County on the horizon.