Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham given a post Christmas boxing by Stoke City
Stoke City put Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City to the sword, beating the Blue 1-3 at St Andrews for the first time since 1988.
The Potters took a 0-2 lead through Jordan Thompson and Lynden Gooch before adding a third through Andre Vidigal minutes after the break. Jay Stanfield managed a consolation goal for his side in the 69th minute.
Birmingham started the game brightly, pressing Stoke early and fashioning a few half chances for Jay Stanfield but none that caused Jack Bonham much stress.
The lack of Blues bite allowed Stoke to grow into the game and they took the lead in the 13th minute through Jordan Thompson. Lynden Gooch’s shot was cleared off the line into the feet of Thompson who struck a left footed effort goalward which found the net thanks to a cruel touch from Juniho Bacuna.
15 minutes on the clock.
We're searching for a way back in it. pic.twitter.com/GFFwYOXbtQ
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) December 26, 2023
After a missed opportunity from Vigigal, Stoke’s quickfire start got even better 15 minutes later when Gooch showed his winger how to finish with a cool nutmeg on Ruddy into the bottom right corner to make it 0-2, triggering a tirade of boos from the home supporters.
Birmingham could have been a third down before the half time whistle sounded had Vidigal’s lobbed effort dipped quick enough after John Ruddy was found in no man’s land. To the former Wolves man’s relief, the ball struck the top of the net behind the crossbar.
Blues started brightly again and should have reduced the deficit after five minutes when Marc Roberts met Bacuna’s cross completely unmarked but smashed his header off target when a goal seemed certain.
They were made to rue that missed opportunity almost instantaneously when Stoke broke following some sloppy passing from Rooney’s side and made it 0-3. Vidigal was played through on the right, he sat down the oncoming Dion Sanderson and dinked his effort calmly over Ruddy, all but killing the Birmingham revival before the dream had realized.
Minutes after Junior Tchamadeu rattled the woodwork for Stoke, Birmingham struck one back to give fans some faint hope of a Christmas miracle.
Freshly subbed teenager Romelle Donovan played the starring role, skinning not one but two Stoke defenders before forcing a save of Bonham, the rebound fell to the feet of Stanfield who fired home his 7th of the season to make it 1-3.
But it was too little too late for Birmingham who were condemned to their 12th loss of the season and their seventh under Rooney in 12 games.
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“It’s hard to actually put into words I’m just frustrated and disappointed with the game today,” said Rooney.
“We lost a couple of our main players today in Lee Buchanan and Krystian Bielik, so I think it shows the importance of them to the team but the last thing I want to do is sit here and make excuses. The players that played the game today are good enough, I’ve seen that, they’ve showed me that in glimpses over the last few weeks.
“As a player you know when you’ve played well and you know when you haven’t. If any player is sat in there thinking they’ve played well today then that’s a real concern.”