Birmingham City vs Luton Town FC (13th Feb 2021)

Match Report | Birmingham City 0-1 Luton Town

Potts' first-half goal enough as the Hatters record another away win!

The Hatters sealed an important 1-0 victory at St Andrew’s in a scrappy 90 minutes of football.

Dan Potts’ first half header from a Harry Cornick long throw proved the difference as Luton produced a dogged defensive display to keep their first clean sheet since their away victory at Bournemouth in mid-January.

In a cagey opening 15 minutes the Hatters came closest to opening the scoring through James Collins. The Town’s leading scorer chased down a loose ball into the Birmingham penalty box, beating the backtracking George Friend and lobbing first time into the side netting.

Five minutes later Matty Pearson, who scored in the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road, was found at the back post by a Jordan Clark inswinging corner, but his bullet header fell straight into the arms of keeper Neil Etheridge.

The Hatters broke the deadlock in the 31st minute through Potts. Harry Cornick’s long throw from the left was brought down by Collins who fired a shot towards goal on the turn, with the ricochet floating into the path of left-back Potts unmarked at the back post, who turned it into an empty net.

A brilliant effort three minutes later from Clark almost doubled the Hatters' advantage after his left footed half-volley from inside the box was saved well by Etheridge to his left.

In what was a scrappy first half entailing 17 fouls and no yellow cards, the Hatters went in with a one goal advantage having certainly created the better chances in what was a tight 45 minutes.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first with an array of fouls and stoppages breaking up the flow of the game, though it was Birmingham who had the first attempt on goal. Jérémie Bela picked the ball up down the left flank, with Gary Gardner rushing in from deep to head straight at Town stopper Simon Sluga.

The game continued to produce very few moments of attacking quality, as Birmingham rolled the dice by introducing Lukasz Jutkiewicz and big money signing Sam Cosgrove. Immediately Birmingham attempted to play direct into their physical front two players, with the Hatters showing great resilience to repel everything The Blues threw at them.

Cornick’s long throws were again causing problems for Birmingham as they once again failed to clear, resulting in a Sonny Bradley overhead kick that rolled wide of the far post.

As the time ticked down into stoppage time, the Hatters showed their discipline to repel an aerial bombardment from Birmingham as they threw everyone forward, with Luton’s front men continuing to press high and disrupt their build up play to seal a hard fought victory.

After three games without a win the Hatters showed tremendous character to bounce back at St Andrew’s, stadium and will take great confidence into their next tie away at Cardiff City on Tuesday night.

Birmingham: Etheridge, Valery, Dean (C), Friend, Pedersen, Gardner (Sunjic 69), San José, Sanchez (Leko 55), Halilovic (Harper 55), Bela (Jutkiewicz 69), Hogan (Cosgrove 69)

Subs not used: Prieto, Colin, Clarke-Salter, McGree.

Yellows: San José, Harper

Town: Sluga, Potts, Bradley (C), Pearson, Lockyer, Rea, Mpanzu, Dewsbury-Hall, Clark (Naismith 70), Cornick, Collins

Subs not used: Shea, Cranie, Tunnicliffe, Berry, Hylton, LuaLua, Adebayo, Ince.

Goals: Potts (31)

Yellows: Potts

Nathan Jones reacts to victory against Birmingham City!

The gaffer delighted with important away win at St Andrew's...

Manager Nathan Jones was delighted his side were able to pick up a second win of the calendar year with a gritty 1-0 victory against Birmingham City.

Dan Potts scored the only goal of the game in the 31st minute from close range, enough to lift the Hatters to within three points of seventh place in the Sky Bet Championship.

It was far from a pretty affair but his side got the job done in the ‘best’ fashion with a one-goal win.

“They are the best win. To summarise I don’t think they created a chance, I thought we defended brilliantly. It was a scrappy game, lacked quality.

“We probably should have gone in probably further ahead first half cause Collo had a great chance and obviously Pottsy scored so we could have extended our lead and got a bit more of a cushion.

“We knew second half that they would come on and throw everything at us, they couldn’t put any more big men on, any more attackers on but I thought we were outstanding.

“Got first contact on everything, defended the box, lacked a little bit of quality but a win is a win. It was a magnificent battle and a great performance.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnUn6ARqhgM – Nathan Jones interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfpYasbkJxk – match highlights

Potts nets the winner as Hatters end their long wait for a victory at Birmingham

Championship: Birmingham City 0 Luton Town 1

Luton picked up their first win at St Andrews since 1986 as they started a crucial period of their season with an equally crucial victory, beating struggling Birmingham this afternoon.

Going into the game, there was the feeling this was a big encounter for Nathan Jones' men, having lost three of their last five games, unfortunately so in two of them it must be said.

But starting a run of 11 matches in 36 days, then it was imperative they began in a positive fashion, as with a number of sides in the bottom half of the table starting to put results together, plus Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United having their matches called off, it represented a big chance for Town to alleviate any nerves that might be forming.

In front of them was a Blues side who have struggled hideously at home this season, without a win since October and taking just two points from their last 10 matches, slipping into the drop zone themselves.

Jones made just one change for the clash, Glen Rea in for Luke Berry, as Ryan Tunnicliffe and Kazenga LuaLua returned to the bench.

A scrappy opening to the exchanges set the tone for the game, with chances few and far between until a long ball forward on 15 minutes saw James Collins get the better of defender George Friend.

Although his angled chip beat keeper Neil Etheridge, it dropped frustratingly into the side-netting.

A good break by Harry Cornick then saw Town win their first corner on 20 minutes when Jordan Clark's cross was deflected behind, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall swung the set-piece in and Matty Pearson headed straight at Etheridge.

Birmingham's first opening arrived midway through the half, as a deep cross from Kristian Pedersen was cleared only as far as the dangerous Jeremie Bela, who dragged well wide.

Town then had the lead on 31 minutes when a long throw was hurled into the box by Cornick, flicked on by Sonny Bradley and although Etheridge, who had performed heroics at Kenilworth Road in the 1-1 draw earlier in the season, denied Collins, an unmarked Dan Potts headed home for his first goal since October 23, 2019.

It was only the Hatters' seventh goal of the campaign away from Kenilworth Road, and just their second in the first half of a match on the road, giving them an advantage they very rarely looked like giving away.

Luton almost had a second moments later, Clark spinning well to fire goalwards on his left foot, Etheridge making a sharp save.

Potts then rose highest once more with five minutes to go until the break, his header falling wide of the target on this occasion.

After the break, Blues looked to find a way back into the game, Gary Gardner meeting Bela's cross, heading into the arms of Simon Sluga.

The stop-start contest, not helped by the whistle-happy official Gavin Ward, was played out in midfield for large parts, but Luton were easily keeping their hosts at arm's length.

With 20 minutes left, City brought on Town's nemesis Lukas Jutkiewicz, the forward scoring in his last three appearances against the Hatters, but it was Luton who looked to make it 2-0, Dewsbury-Hall's thunderous drive cannoning into a defender.

Hatters continued to remain solid in defence, while offering a threat upfront as another long throw by Cornick caused panic, Bradley hooking an audacious overhead volley narrowly wide.

Jutkiewicz showed his aerial talents to win a hopeful punt forward from Tom Lockyer and force Bradley into conceding a corner, from which the visiting skipper repelled Kristian Pedersen's header, Mikel San Jose hammering his ambitious attempt well wide.

Potts continued to remain one of Luton' biggest threats as from Dewsbury-Hall's curling free kick, his flicked was deflected over the bar by a covering Blues defender.

Although City pushed men forward, they never ever seriously tested Sluga in the final stages, the Croatian picking up one of the most comfortable clean sheets he will manage on the road this season, as Luton climbed two places to 13th, and most importantly, now nine points clear of the bottom three.

Terriers: Neil Etheridge, Kristian Pedersen, George Friend, Yan Valery, Scott Hogan (Lukas Jutkiewicz 69), Jeremie Bela (Ivan Sunjic 69), Harlee Dean, Ivan Sanchez (Jonathan Leko 55), Mikel San Jose, Gary Gardner (Sam Cosgrove 69), Alen Halilovic (Rekeem Harper 55).

Subs not used: Andres Prieto, Maxime Colin, Jake Clarke-Salter, Riley McGree.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, Matty Pearson, Dan Potts, Tom Lockyer, Sonny Bradley ©, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Glen Rea, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Jordan Clark (Kal Naismith 69), Harry Cornick, James Collins.

Subs not used: James Shea, Danny Hylton, Elijah Adebayo, Martin Cranie, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Luke Berry, Tom Ince, Kazenga LuaLua.

Bookings: Potts 49, Gardner 56, Harper 60.

Referee: Gavin Ward.

Jones happy to take the spotlight off any talk of a relegation fight with Blues win

Luton boss reacts to today's 1-0 victory at St Andrew's

Luton boss Nathan Jones believes that this afternoon’s 1-0 win at Birmingham City will help take the spotlight off any talk of a relegation battle for the Hatters this season.

Dan Potts’ goal on 31 minutes saw Town win a fifth away game of the campaign at a Blues side who are definitely involved in a scrap to stay up, with the victory lifting Luton up to 13th and nine points away from the bottom three.

They are also just nine points off the top six, as speaking afterwards, Jones said: “Come away from home, clean sheet, three points, 1-0 win, I would have taken that all day long, especially with the importance of the game as without being coy about stuff, it was an important win today.

“It gives us a little bit of a buffer but it’s not so much a buffer as we’re not looking there (bottom three), but it might just take the spotlight off certain things as plenty of media would point to things, which then invariably could make the players edgy, so it's a nice timely three points.

“It’s vitally important that you keep moving forward and I kept saying in interviews, we've had a real tough January in terms of some of the games,

“Four away games on the spin and going away to Bournemouth, Brentford, Chelsea, Blackburn, you don't get four harder games than that.

“Performance levels, we were excellent but we didn't get too much from it, we only got three points.

“So it's nice to back up our performance now with points as we've started the month quite well, unbeaten and taken four points.

“We should have won last week I'm convinced we should have won after watching the game back.

“It's nice to get the points on the board as it does give you a little bit of a buffer, but we’re not looking there (drop zone), we’re looking that way (up) and what it does is it brings others a little bit closer.”

On the game itself, Jones was always confident his side would come out on top after taking the lead through Potts’ first goal since October 2019.

He continued: “I felt like we were (comfortable), to a certain extent, you’re never totally comfortable, but I think we restricted them to very little.

“It was a scrappy game, we lacked a bit of quality, but I think any chances that were had, were had by us.

“We’re a little bit disappointed to not go in further ahead as to be fair we have been in previous games, but what we had today was the basics.

“I thought we did the basics really well, especially second half and deservedly got the three points.”

Hatters had the better of the opportunities, with nine shots to the Blues’ four, with four on target, City managing just one.

Jones was satisfied with the goal threat on the day, adding: “I thought we had a lot of chance from set-plays, a lot of first contacts, lot of headers.

“James Collins had a glorious chance where he’s just got the keeper to beat, the keeper’s then pulled off a great save from James, he’s pulled off another good save from Jordan Clark, so we’ve had enough chances.

“Especially being the away side, we’ve had enough of the game to have won the game and we have won the game.

“So I’m very pleased with the discipline we showed, we’ve come away, we’ve won 1-0 away from home which is always a great result.”