0
Birmingham City
V
2
AFC Bournemouth
,
Dominic Solanke ‘77'
,
Jaidon Anthony ‘87'
FT
18th August 2021 7:45 PM
St. Andrew's Stadium
#AFCB
Close
Commentary By @AFCBournemouth
We LIVE for this, sharing these moments!
There are SO many good photos from tonight!
WHAT A WIN!!
Full time and we may not have been at our free-flowing best, but it's these wins that are the sweetest!
Thank you so much for the support whether you were watching the stream or following these updates, whatever you were doing!
A first professional goal from Jaidon Anthony and a stunning goal from Dom Solanke seal a brilliant three points.
A fantastic evening, UP THE CHERRIES!
GET IN THERE!!!
ANOTHER ONE!
Hopefully that's it!
Stanislas tells Ibsen Rossi to go to the back-post, and the big defender heads it back across the goal.
Anthony is unmarked but he has a lot to do, but he fires it into the top corner in sensational fashion!
A lovely moment as he bags his first senior competitive goal!!
JAIDONNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!
This guy!
Huge block...
Again Birmingham threaten.
They swing a cross in towards the back post where Hogan is waiting to tap it in, but Zemura is there to make a goal-saving challenge to divert the ball away.
It looked a certain goal, but that is TOP TOP defending!
Birmingham are putting the pressure on but the team is showing its resilience. Keep going lads!
GET IN THERE!!!!
What a finish!!!!
Pearson nicked the ball and whipped a great knock over the top down the right-hand side.
Solanke showed huge endeavour and great pace to get in front of his man and stride into the penalty area.
He held off his man and hit a precise effort into the bottom left corner.
One to watch later on afcbTV, a BRILLIANT take! 1-0!
SOLANKEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
First yellow card...
Pedersen is booked.
A great tackle from Billing gets Anthony in behind the backline in the wide right position.
Just trying to nick anything on the ball or his man, Pedersen steams in, catches the winger and it's a definite yellow card.
It was a foul that had to be made otherwise Anthony was in behind with plenty of space to run into the area.
Unlucky!
Billing!
He gets the ball on the right-hand side and drifts in field, beating two men, before firing an effort on his left towards the bottom corner.
It's wide, but it did open up for the Dane who's been in great goalscoring form.
A hard-working shift from Davis on his full debut!
A second change...
Pearson is coming on now for Davis.
So what we can see from that is that Stanislas will play wide left, with Anthony shifting to the right-hand side.
That allows Pearson to play alongside Billing in the middle of the pitch.
Goal disallowed...
A let off as Jutkiewicz heads home.
Seconds before, Mepham made a superb block to deny Bela in the box and the ball reached Colin on the right-hand side.
He dinks a high one to the back-post where Jutkiewicz is lurking and it's a superb header into the corner but fortunately the flag was up on the far side.
Birmingham are building momentum and we can't tell if it was offside or not, it's close.
Our first sub...
As we mentioned, it is Stanislas.
Marcondes makes way for him and it looks as though it's a straight swap with Stanislas playing in central midfield.
He'll be looking to bring a spark to the team with roughly 30 minutes to go.
Marcondes trying to create...
Another effort...
Anthony again.
Mepham wins it well and Marcondes is alive to drill the ball to the other side where Anthony is waiting.
He uses the run of Zemura to give himself half-a-yard to fire one from the left, 25-yards out, and he tries to curl an effort which Sarkic saves.
It was comfortable, but really encouraging signs, again from that left-hand side.
It looks like we'll be making a change shortly...
Stanislas and Parker are having a lengthy discussion on the touchline, with Burch also getting involved.
He's just intensified his warm up too, so expect him to enter the fray shortly.
He does seem like the exact player we need to break down this tight-knit defence.
A good spell for Birmingham...
Chong again is lively for them.
He pinched the ball high up the pitch and put in a really threatening cross that Ibsen Rossi did really well to defend at the near post and clear for a corner.
A succession of corners then came into the box and the defence dealt with them superbly.
The team have defended the box excellently so far.
Save!
That's more like it!
We work it well from the back and it's those two again, Anthony and Zemura, who combine to great effect.
The full-back slips a lovely reverse ball to give Anthony space in the box and he produces his trademark finessed effort towards the bottom right corner.
Sarkic is at full stretch to tip it away - almost the perfect start to the half!
Back underway...
The gaffer will want to see a big improvement from his team here, with no changes made for either side.
We've had 63% possession but haven't had a shot on target yet, however there's still plenty of time and things to be positive about as Solanke gets us going again.
We'll be attacking towards our away fans too, come on lads!
HALF TIME
Well, there wasn't a lot in it.
We know what the half-time team talk will be from the gaffer, he was screaming at the players to move it quicker and "pop it" - he feels the passing has been too slow.
Our defenders have had a lot of time on the ball and with that, it's allowed Birmingham to be compact and sit in.
So an interesting second half awaits, hopefully we can create something and break them down.
Grafting on his first start!
Birmingham sitting deep...
We're having a lot of the ball but Birmingham are so deep and compact that we can't find the spaces to break them down.
They're well drilled as we know under Lee Bowyer and they're living up to their reputation, very solid so far.
It's up to our attacking players to provide that bit of magic to break the lock but we haven't been able to create a clear opening yet.
Trying to prise open the defence...
Chong is looking lively...
He's been Birmingham's brightest spark here.
The Manchester United loanee has picked the ball up in wide areas on the right-hand side but has now drifting infield and found some joy with the ball at his feet.
His pace and ability to carry the ball is threatening but the defence has dealt with him well so far. One to keep an eye on.
25 minutes gone...
It's quite tight at the moment.
We've had a lot of the ball with Ibsen Rossi and Kelly playing some delightful diagonal passes towards the front men - their passing has been outstanding.
Birmingham are sitting off them and they're playing some delightful balls causing the hosts problems.
We haven't created a clear opportunity yet as Birmingham grow into the game here, but we've had most of the possession.
Never stops running!
We're looking dangerous...
We haven't created anything yet, but the trio of Zemura, Billing and Anthony are working extremely well together.
They're playing very clever one-touch passes to create space for each other, with Zemura tucking in making the pitch extremely narrow.
They look full of confidence and have been great to watch so far, looking the most likely to make something happen in the early exchanges.
A tactical note here...
So Davis is playing on the right-hand side when we are attacking in a straight swap for Brooks.
But he is very deep when we are defending and it's almost as if we are playing with a back five.
But he's full of energy, more than willing to help Mepham defensively and is also rapid to support the attack.
Interesting to see how he gets on slightly out of position as the game progresses.
Together!
First save...
It's for Travers.
Chong, on loan from Manchester United, picks the ball up wide right and runs at Zemura.
He cuts inside onto his left and smashes one towards the corner.
It's a fairly central height so Travers can get a good palm to the ball and tip it away.
An early warning sign.
We are underway...
In our red and black kit, we'll attack to the left-hand side, the opposite way from our away fans who are tucked in the top corner the other way.
With the two stands shut here, it should mean our fans will be loud and proud here this evening.
Leko kicks us off, full updates to come!
15 minute warning...
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Preparation almost done!
The new boy is here!
Orjan Nyland only signed yesterday, but he's on the bench tonight at St. Andrew's.
The Norway international, who was a free agent, signed a one-year contract after impressing head coach Scott Parker while training with us.
Nyland has played in the top flights in Norway, Germany and England, and has also been promoted from the division twice - with Aston Villa and Norwich.
He'll provide some experience and competition and will also wear the number one shirt.
Pre-match interview time...
Speaking of our record at St Andrew's...
It's absolutely ridiculous to be honest!
The Cherries have made 12 visits to St. Andrew's and have still yet to taste defeat at the ground. Impressively, we've won nine of those games, to go along with three draws.
That does include a game against Coventry City who played their home games in Birmingham last season.
On top of that, we've scored 26 goals and only conceded seven...
Incredible. Hopefully we haven't jinxed it, but it's a happy hunting ground for us!
Looking back...
You can't mention St Andrew's without us talking about the legend himself, Marc Pugh - and his first professional hat-trick!
He told afcb.co.uk:
βThese are the things you dream about when you are growing up.
βItβs a day I will never forget and I will treasure the matchball forever. But it could have been very different because Iβd had an absolute shocker in the first half!
βI scored my first goal early in the second half and grew in confidence from there. I got my second and then we were awarded a penalty.
βAt the time, TK needed a goal so I let him have the penalty and he scored. Fortunately, a couple of minutes later, the ball fell to me and I scored my third.
βIt was an amazing feeling because it was my first professional hat-trick. I canβt remember where we were in the table but, after that game, we all started to really believe."
Good spirits!
TEAM NEWS IS IN!
Leif Davis is making his first start for us tonight and we're guessing that he's going to play wide right, replacing the suspended Brooks.
He did do well in his brief spell there against Forest at the weekend and it's great to welcome him in for his first ever Cherries start.
Elsewhere, the team is unchanged from our impressive weekend win, but new signing Orjan Nyland is on the bench and in the squad for the first time since joining.
Ben Pearson also returns to the bench which is great news as the injury front continues to get better for us.
Let's keep the positivity flowing!
Five minutes until the team news is in...
We know that David Brooks will be absent for this one after his red card against Forest at the weekend.
That will be the only game he'll miss as he serves a one-game ban.
The gaffer was very complimentary of his young players in the week and is also expecting to have Ben Pearson back in the squad which is a huge plus.
We'll bring it to you straight from the dressing room at 6.45pm.
WELCOME!
We are here and ready to go in Birmingham as we look to extend our positive start to the season against Lee Bowyer's men tonight.
It's going to be weird with two of the main stands here closed, but hopefully that means we can hear more of the Cherries support in the second city.
We'll have you fully updated with these more detailed updates, but nothing beats watching yourself.
Head to live.afcb.co.uk and get your streaming pass wherever you are in the world.
LET'S GO!
Other games that day
As it stood