Birmingham City might have found their Premier League pair as Yokoyama held back
Birmingham City talking points after the 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in League One on Tuesday
Birmingham City continued their sterling form with the most convincing of two-nil victories against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night.
Tomoki Iwata got the ball rolling inside three minutes with a precise left-foot volley from the edge of the box and Jay Stansfield made the game safe with a late penalty. Other than a scare from John McAtee, which Ryan Allsop superbly saved, Bolton offered nothing at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Blues have recorded back-to-back League One wins since returning from the international break and have won five straight home league games for the first time since 2003. Blues have officially recorded their best-ever start to a league season with 28 points after 11 games.
READ: Birmingham City braced for Christoph Klarer blow after Bolton game
READ: Ian Evatt pays Blues the ultimate compliment after Bolton were outclassed
Here are our talking points from Blues’ win over Bolton…
Iwata X Paik
This victory was very much built around Blues’ midfield double-act. They controlled the game with their passing and positioning in a way that made it impossible for Bolton to cope.
The first goal wasn’t all about Iwata’s sensational finish. Paik Seung-ho bulldozed his way through two challenges, emerging with the ball twice, to set Alfie May away down the right in the build-up.
Iwata and Paik, both of whom have no business playing at this level, are proving to be too good for their League One counterparts. The understanding between the pair adds to their charm. On one occasion in the second half Paik dashed between Bolton’s two midfielders and Iwata found him with a perfectly weighted pass. All of a sudden, Bolton’s midfield was out of the game and Paik was running towards their back three with options right and left.
This is a midfield pairing that could take Blues to the Premier League eventually. You have to feel sorry for Marc Leonard at this point.
Blues needed their goalkeeper
There’s always a moment and Bolton’s arrived for McAtee as we entered the final 10 minutes. The Trotters had barely laid a glove on Blues before McAtee found his way into a goal-scoring position.
Allsop stayed on his feet and stretched out his left leg to ensure McAtee didn’t sneak the ball in at the near post. For the second game running, Allsop produced a crucial stop to prevent Blues from losing their lead.
Blues manager Chris Davies commented: “As you can see, I have a lot of emphasis on them being able to build the game up from the back calmly and make passes with the ball at their feet, but they’re goalkeepers and they need to have big moments in the goal. That’s their bread and butter. He made a penalty save at the weekend and now he’s had a big save tonight. He’s got a good presence in the goal, that’s how I’d describe him.”
Yokoyama held back by Davies
Those of us inside the stadium could be forgiven for being surprised to see Marc Leonard stripped and ready to come on when Emil Hansson went down injured in the 20th minute. There was only one like-for-like replacement for Davies and Leonard wasn’t it.
Ayumu Yokoyama was the obvious candidate but Davies clearly thought it was too early in the game to introduce his wildcard winger. Leonard instead sparked a reshuffle that saw Keshi Anderson shift over to the left and Willum Willumsson occupy the right wing position.
Yokoyama is viewed very much as an impact substitute at the moment and Blues didn’t require his unpredictability. The substitution to bring on Leonard showed Yokoyama still has to convince Davies in some aspects.
The hiding is coming
Blues have dispatched two promotion contenders in consecutive home games and, quite frankly, they were both lucky to escape without real hidings. Huddersfield lost 1-0 but Blues had more than enough chances to score five and Bolton can thank their lucky stars Alfie May didn’t wear his shooting boots on Tuesday.
May was guilty of two misses either side of half-time after racing in behind Bolton’s high line. Maybe four games without a goal has led to May overthinking what usually comes naturally to him.
There is no doubt that Blues will obliterate an opponent on the scoreline if they continue to do so statistically.