Birmingham City manager Chris Davies believes his side didn’t deserve to lose the EFL Trophy final against Peterborough United yesterday.
The Blues had already enjoyed a stellar weekend without kicking a ball prior to the clash at Wembley Stadium. Having already secured promotion in midweek – ironically against Peterborough – they were crowned League One champions following Wrexham’s 0-0 draw at Wigan Athletic.
The West Midlanders were heavy favourites to secure a league and cup double but suffered a blow after just 15 minutes when Harley Mills curled in a stunning free kick after just 15 minutes. Davies’ side dominated possession for the remainder of the half but were unable to break down Posh’s resolute defence.
This saw Hector Kyprianou double the advantage in equally emphatic fashion on the stroke of half time. Despite boasting the attacking might of Jay Stansfield and Alfie May, the second half played out goalless to secure Peterborough a second successive EFL Trophy triumph.
Davies Praises Peterborough But ‘Best Team Lost’
Watched on by owners Tom Brady and Tom Wagner (and the Amazon Prime cameras), this was a result which wasn’t in the script. Following the game, Davies praised Peterborough two moments of class but felt the better team on the day lost:
“It wasn’t to be our day, but congratulations to Peterborough for their victory. They scored two unbelievable goals from outside the box. The first one from the free-kick puts us behind and then, as we’re getting going again, they score the other one, so we’ve got a mountain to climb after those two strikes.
This angle of Harley Mills’ free kick 😍#pufc
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“They were high moments in quality from their point of view and the moments that were missing in our game. We got to the final third so consistently, but from the final third, it’s how do you create goal chances from that? And we just missed those combinations and quality today.
“In the end, with something to hold onto, we just couldn’t find the gaps in their defence and we fell short. Over the course of the game I think we were the better team in the sense that they hit two worldies from outside the box, but didn’t do anything else in the game. It was all us.”
Writer’s View
There’s no doubt that Birmingham enjoyed a lot of the ball at the national stadium, but they rarely threatened the Peterborough goal. In fact, it was Darren Ferguson’s team that had more shots on target and were arguably happy to let their opponents try and fail to pass around their back line. In the end, there’s no doubt that the game was settled in two stunning moments, but Posh thoroughly deserved their win.
