Sport

Alex Dicken’s Birmingham City player ratings: Dozzell and Pritchard debut in West Brom defeat

Published

8 months ago

February 3, 2024

Substitute Andi Weimann struck late to hand West Bromwich Albion a 1-0 victory over Tony Mowbray’s Birmingham City.

Mowbray suffered his first league defeat as Blues boss at the hands of his former employers. Ex-Aston Villa striker Weimann netted the decisive goal in an even game in the 85th minute at The Hawthorns.

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Stand-in goalkeeper Neil Etheridge enjoyed a quiet start to the game. He wasn’t worked until midway through the first half when Baggies captain Jed Wallace fired straight at him from the left side of the penalty area.

That was the stand-out moment from a dull first half. Blues’ best effort saw Jay Stansfield sting the palms of Alex Palmer from range.

Jordan James was introduced in place of debutant Alex Pritchard at half-time and Lee Buchanan made way for Juninho Bacuna before the hour. Buchanan possibly paid the price for a beating from Tom Fellows in the build-up to a gilt-edged miss from Alex Mowatt.

Mowatt headed wide from close range after being picked out by Fellows. Buchanan – who was also on a booking – didn’t get the chance to face up Fellows again.

Blues weathered the Albion storm and started to make inroads going forward in the final 20 minutes. A corner from Andre Dozzell was met by Kevin Long at the near post and his deft touch struck the far post before rolling back across the line and into the grateful hands of Palmer.

The stage was set for substitute Juninho Bacuna with 10 minutes to go after Siriki Dembele was upended on the edge of the box. Bacuna couldn’t repeat his heroics in Stoke and smashed the free-kick against the wall.

Just when Blues appeared to be in the ascendancy, Albion struck the decisive blow. Darnell Furlong galloped down the right and pulled the ball back for Weimann to steer it inside the near post.

Tempers flared between both sets of players at the final whistle. Bacuna and Stansfield were in the thick of it from a Blues perspective and cards were dished out by referee David Webb before things calmed down.

Neil Etheridge 6

Etheridge enjoyed a relatively quiet game thanks to the good work of those in front of him. He stood little chance with Weimann’s close range finish.

Ethan Laird 7

Laird completed his first 90 minutes since November and Blues looked better for it. He was solid at right-back before shifting to the other side to quieten down the dangerous Fellows.

Kevin Long 7

A solid return to the team for Long, who earned cheers from Blues fans in the first half for two big blocks to thwart Thomas-Asante. Long went closest to a Blues goal in the second half.

Krystian Bielik 7

Bielik played out from defence well on occasions and looked comfortable alongside Long. The experiment seems to be working for Mowbray and getting the best out of Bielik

Lee Buchanan 5.5

The left-back couldn’t get to grips with Fellows. A first half foul earned Buchanan a booking and he couldn’t engage Fellows from thereon. Buchanan made way after Fellows beat him to set up a big chance for Mowatt.

Andre Dozzell 6

Dozzell was the polar opposite to Sunjic. In possession he was composed and tried to thread intricate passes through to Blues’ forwards, but out of possession he wasn’t so effective and picked up a needless booking for a tug back on Wallace.

Ivan Sunjic 6

Sunjic was excellent out of possession but he gave the ball away too much. That probably sums up Sunjic. There are still games where he will be required and this was one of them.

Koji Miyoshi 6

The Japanese winger was unable to weave his magic from the right flank. He combined with Pritchard and Stansfield a couple of times but his influence was minimal.

Alex Pritchard 6

Pritchard showed moments of quality in possession and found space well in the pockets behind Albion’s midfielders. Unfortunately Pritchard’s debut was cut short at half-time.

Siriki Dembele 6

Dembele wasn’t heavily involved at The Hawthorns. He got himself into some dangerous positions without working the Albion goalkeeper.

Jay Stansfield 6.5

Maybe Stansfield should have gone down when Townsend tugged his shirt inside the box in the second half. The Blues striker was too honest. He worked tirelessly but Stansfield wasn’t afforded a clear-cut chance.

SUBS

Jordan James (for Pritchard, 46) 7

The Wales international showed his quality in possession after coming on at half-time. One ball over the top to Stansfield was superb.

Juninho Bacuna (for Buchanan, 57) 6

Bacuna played as an attacking right-back. He couldn’t beat the wall with a free-kick in a good position.

Paik Seung-ho (for Miyoshi, 67) 6

The new signing showed some quality in possession on his debut. He also showed flexibility to play in three positions during his short time on the pitch.