Birmingham City drew 1-1 with promotion favourites Ipswich Town last night – staking their claim as one of the second tier’s most anticipated sides. The Tractor Boys salvaged a point despite an exciting Blues performance.
Chris Davies’ League One-winning side lead the opening matchday 1-0 for the second half’s majority, before George Hirst converted a 95th-minute penalty to deny all three points for Birmingham. The Blues looked dominant in possession during the first half and nearly shut out late, resilient Ipswich pressure.
Box Office Championship Football
The first half offered far more than a 0-0 performance, with tensions flaring from the offset. A particular battle on the pitch showed Jack Taylor and Bright Osayi-Samuel become familiar with each other during a ‘square up’, leading to both players receiving a first yellow card of the season. The Ipswich midfielder looked to be an important playmaker in a double pivot role, progressing his side up the pitch and recovering the ball eight times during City attacks.
Celtic’s former striker, Kyogo Furuhashi, provided a lovely chipped finish during the opening 45, but saw a controversial decision rule the new number nine’s goal out. An exciting, open game pitted two hungry sides together. Jay Stansfield opened his account with a poacher’s finish around the 55-minute mark.
There’s a Neumann In Town
Despite a potentially harsh penalty decision, with the ball striking the hand of substitute Lyndon Dykes deep into added time, Hirst cooly slotted the ball past Ryan Allsop. Birmingham’s defence was outstanding for the most part, with Phil Neumann’s fantastic debut highlighting the former Hannover centre-back’s aerial dominance and physical prowess.
Writer’s View
With the game being such a grand occasion – two promotion-chasing sides battling for all three points – it could be argued that refereeing difficulties should be accommodated. However, this was certainly a day for Andrew Kitchen to forgot. Both sets of fans have commented on the abundance of controversial decisions regarding fouls and tackles in the middle of the park. This ultimately disrupted the natural flow of an important game.
Neumann and Taylor were the standout players for each side, with Birmingham having to settle for a point after looking the more likely side to win for the majority of the game. A clash of possession-dominant play from Davies and the counter-attacking, Premier League reflective style of McKenna, lead to a thrilling opening day in the Championship.
This is likely the worst we will see the Tractor Boys play this season, with a top-flight hangover potentially still looming large. McKenna will be able to mould his side into promotion chasers once more, with an impetus on the resilience of battling for a point even at their poorest. For Birmingham, it is about carrying this momentum over to gameweek two and beyond.
