Comeback kings Birmingham City performed their party piece at Sincil Bank to defeat Lincoln City 3-1 and stay top of League One.
Blues recovered from going behind in the first minute to record a convincing away win courtesy of Keshi Anderson’s brace and Willum Willumsson’s third goal of the season. Chris Davies’ side have now won 13 points from losing positions this season.
People were still taking their seats inside Sincil Bank when Bailey Cadamarteri swept home the opening goal. Christoph Klarer glanced on a long throw-in and Cadamarteri was lurking to convert from close range.
Once Blues stemmed the flow of Lincoln throw-ins and corners, and got their foot on the ball, the equaliser arrived. A patient passing move ended with Anderson firing home left-footed from just inside the penalty area.
RECAP: Lincoln 1-3 Blues - As it happened
READ: Jay Stansfield injured on international duty in blow to Birmingham City
From that goal onwards the first half was dominated by Blues. They enjoyed 82 percent possession and flooded forward but they couldn’t open up a stubborn Imps defence.
The closest Blues came to a second goal before half-time came via a wonderful effort from Alfie May. May played a clever one-two with Anderson before unleashing a shot from 25 yards that hit the outside of the post.
Blues grabbed the lead their play deserved within six minutes of the restart. May teed up Willumsson with a lovely set and the Iceland international produced an unerring finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Lincoln made a raft of changes to try and force an equaliser. Their big chance arrived in the 72nd minute when referee Simon Mather adjudged Paik Seung-ho to have fouled Conor McGrandles inside the penalty box.
Imps substitute Reeco Hackett accepted responsibility but his penalty was saved by Allsop. The Blues goalkeeper dived low to his right to complete his second penalty stop this season.
Anderson made the game safe with 11 minutes remaining by finishing off another team move. Ayumu Yokoyama's cut-back from the right was intelligently laid off by Willumsson for Anderson to stroke home his second goal of the afternoon.
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Ryan Allsop 8*
The Blues goalkeeper is proving himself to be something of a penalty saving specialist. He bailed his team out with a strong stop from Hackett’s penalty. Allsop was also top notch with his feet.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman 6.5
Gardner-Hickman is doing a fine job and kept his place in the team despite the presence of two orthodox right-backs on the bench. The Bristol City loanee was relentless for 66 minutes before being replaced by Laird.
Christoph Klarer 7.5
Stand-in skipper Klarer took it upon himself to repel Lincoln’s aerial assault in the opening 10 minutes. Other than his first contact on the throw-in that led to Lincoln’s goal, Klarer was excellent at the back. The crispness and quality of his passing set up endless attacks.
Ben Davies 7
Davies is proving himself to be a really valuable player for Blues. He is comfortable alongside Klarer and stretched his legs to win some challenges.
Alex Cochrane 7
The left-back is almost a 7/10 every week, such is his consistency. Cochrane advanced well in the first half and set May up with a pinpoint cross to the back post.
Tomoki Iwata 7.5
Iwata was his usual disruptive self in midfield and outperformed Paik on this occasion. He always offered his defenders a pass and knitted things together nicely.
Paik Seung-ho 7
Paik looked a tad jaded in the second half and clumsily gave away a penalty. His quality in possession was there for all to see though, so you can see why Davies allowed him to see the game out.
Willum Willumsson 8
A star turn from the Icelandic on his return from international duty. Willumsson was tidy in his play and scored a lovely goal at the start of the second half before playing his part in the game-clinching third.
Keshi Anderson 8
Anderson will take the plaudits on this occasion after bagging two goals. The winger marked his contract extension in the perfect way with two excellent – and very different – finishes at Sincil Bank.
Emil Hansson 6.5
Hansson combined well with Cochrane a couple of times in the first half and allowed his full-back to go beyond him. The Swede had to be replaced early in the second half.
Alfie May 7
May went close to ending Blues’ goal of the season competition with a 25-yarder that struck the outside of the post after a cute one-two with Anderson. Clever touches was a theme of May’s game and he teed up Willumsson for the second just after half-time.
SUBS
Ayumu Yokoyama (for Hansson, 55) 6
Yokoyama was lively in a longer than usual cameo off the bench. He played his part in the third goal with a good run down the right.
Ethan Laird (for Gardner-Hickman, 66) 6
It was good to see the right-back back on the pitch after seven weeks out injured. Laird was solid in his defensive duties in one of his less adventurous cameos.
Lyndon Dykes (for May, 66) 6
Dykes provided fresh legs and a focal point for Blues’ other attackers to play off.
Marc Leonard (for Anderson, 83) N/A
Not used: Peacock-Farrell, Sanderson, Sampsted
Attendance: 10,026 (1,797)
