WBA 2-3 Blues

The XI

One change. Jordan Graham injured. Josh Williams returns to the XI with Jonathan Leko on the bench. 

The game

Blues were quickly on the front foot, Krystian Bielik finding Juninho Bacuna who was tackled, Troy Deeney firing over.  Maxime Colin later robbed Conor Townsend and found Bacuna whose pass found its way to Tahith Chong via Scott Hogan, the Dutchman blazing wildly over the bar. We scored a couple of minutes later, Chong getting the better of a 50-50 and finding Bacuna whose through ball for Hogan was perfectly weighted to finish. May have been offside. 

Baggies found some rhythm. A nice move down the left ended with Jed Wallace being denied by John Ruddy at the back post but he wasn't to be denied a second time, finishing through the legs having been found by Okay Yokuslu. 

Not much happened after despite WBA being in the ascendency. Jayson Molumby fired over from 20 yards. Deeney almost had an assist for Chong who denied by a fine tackle and seconds later, Ruddy was saving a dipping effort from distance. 

Bielik had to come off at half-time to be replaced by teenager Jordan James. Grady Dinanga couldn't quite connect to a corner on the turn, the best chance WBA could muster in a dominant period before Blues moved ahead.

This was a fantastic goal. Five touches. Four passes. One box to the other. Bacuna made the most of a loose ball and continued running forward. Hogan flicked to Deeney and turned to join Bacuna. Deeney found Bacuna behind Kyle Bartley and without looking, he played a first time pass that bent round Dara O'Shea for Hogan to finish first time in off the post. The kind of goal Birmingham City do not score. 

Marc Roberts was lost to injury and replaced by Jonathan Leko while Brandon Thomas-Asante joined the game for WBA. John Swift shot wide from a short corner but not much happened until Blues made it 3-1, a poor Bartley header capitalised on by Deeney who found Hogan. Hogan went for the tight angle and poked through the legs of David Button. 

Five changes were made as Blues prepared to take what they had and WBA tried to put the pressure on. As it turned out, an innocuous ball over the top and Dion Sanderson switching off led to the key moment, Sanderson fouling BTA and giving away a penalty. It may have been outside of the area but probably worked in our favour - it was a red card if the free kick was given. BTA stepped up and scored. 

From there, Blues just held on. Trusty cleared off the line. Diangana headed at Ruddy. Swift headed wide. Several other crosses came in and were headed away before being booted clear. We held on. 

Tactics

This was 3-1-4-2 v 4-2-3-1. 

Curiously, Eustace chose to swap Chong and Bacuna for this one, Chong on the left of the three and Bacuna on the right. 

Blues set up as we normally do against a 4-at-the-back system. The strikers dropped off and forced possession to the full-backs. Chong was quick to press Taylor Gardner-Hickman but it wasn't quite the same on the other flank for Bacuna, Blues seemingly happy to let Townsend play forward or give it back to O'Shea on his wrong side. As ever, the idea was to be dominant in the duel with the first forward pass, whether that be in behind or to feet.

WBA were somewhat happy to oblige. They were feeding the ball to TGH or Townsend with the intention of having Swift & Diangana/Wallace drop in and Grant take Roberts into a wide position to stretch our backline. If played into the channel, the winger would move forward. If played shorter, the idea was for one-touch football and the full-back running forward to get them out of trouble.

WBA did try and build from the back at times but had a clear issue. The back four and midfield two had no intention of progressing themselves. So Molumby and Yokuslu were dropping in to take possession and effectively left WBA with five players lined up at the back with the other CM just ahead. They couldn't progress so had to go longer early on. They struggled to bring the ball back inside which led to a lot of crosses which Blues dealt with and then broke. Blues were sharp on the break. A striker would show to offer against the clearance and Bacuna/Chong would be nearby to link up and break beyond the WBA midfield.

When WBA did get into shape, it was usually standard 4-4-2 stuff. However, the CB's weren't particularly aggressive and it led to 3 v 2 situations with Deeney, Hogan and Bacuna up against Molumby and Yokuslu, the FB's occupied by the WB's who were getting high. Blues always had an option to move into the final third. 

The substitutions led to a lot of positional changes. They were as followed:

- Leko for Roberts. Leko RWB. Colin RWB to RCB. Sanderson RCB to CB. 

- BTA for Yokuslu. BTA ST. Swift CAM to CM. Diangana LW to CAM. Grant ST to LW. 

- Triple sub. Matt Phillips RB. Erik Pieters LB. Jake Livermore CM. Dara O'Shea LCB to RCB. Conor Townsend LB to LCB. Swift CM to CAM. Diangana CAM to LW. 

- Double sub. Hannibal CAM. Chong LAM to LCM. 

- George Hall for Josh Williams. Hall RWB. Leko RWB to LWB. 

Players

Hogan takes the plaudits here with a hat-trick. Has looked a far more confident and happy striker this season and this was a nice reward. It wouldn't have happened without the bodies around him. Deeney played a selfless role while Bacuna and Chong were excellent in midfield, the former with two assists. 

Colin had arguably one of his worst games for the club a couple of weeks back but produced another solid performance here and stepped in at CB when required. Roberts won his battle with Grant but remains a weak point in possession. Williams had a tough night up against Wallace and seemed unsure of himself - a learning curve for the youngster. 

Wallace was the standout for WBA. Always a threat. Always wanted to run at Blues. Diangana also played a key role in WBA's best chances of the first half, including the goal, dropping off his marker and playing quickly to open Blues up. 

Bartley was caught out for two goals here. Grant looks a little lost in a side that does not play to his strengths at all.  

Anything else?

Scott Hogan has scored five goals this season. The first four were all assisted by Juninho Bacuna. 

This was Blues' first win at The Hawthorns since 2005. Also a 3-2 victory. 

Conclusions

When everybody is fit, this Blues side is a match for any side in the division. There is an honesty and willingness to dig in. Tactically, our manager is bright. Individually, our players are good, strong Championship players and our midfield as exciting as they come. 

It's clear that Bielik and Chong are having a big impact on the group and their additions have taken the onus off the teenagers having to step up and be men while they're still learning the job. And when they, or others, do make way, the teenagers are finding it somewhat easier to replace them with a lot of the hard work done. The standards are being set, as they should be.

Again, it's worth noting the depth of the group. We lost Roberts and Bielik tonight and ended up with a midfield five of Hall (18), Hannibal (19), James (18), Chong (22) and Leko (23). Hall is a CM and Leko a ST yet they were playing WB to finish the game. Chong is a WG but tucked in alongside James to finish the game. 

They held on, and credit to them. It's clear, however, that if we are survive, we need our first choice 12-13 fit more often than not. That first XI is a strong Championship XI.