Yahoo News Birmingham City player ratings as Stansfield and Iwata down Wrexham in front of Brady and Beckham
Birmingham City finally found their Hollywood performance to down Wrexham 3-1 in front of an A-List line-up at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park.
Tom Brady and special guest David Beckham joined Blues chairman Tom Wagner in the directors’ box to oppose Wrexham owner and actor Rob McElhenney, and they were entertained by an electric performance in front of a sell-out crowd.
Blues’ record signing Jay Stansfield stole the show with a brace on his second debut for the club. Another of the deadline day signings Blues forked out on, Japanese midfielder Tomoki Iwata, marked his debut with a stunner to clinch it.
Chris Davies’ side had to come from behind after Jack Marriott gave Wrexham an early lead. They also had to see the game out with 10 men after captain Krystian Bielik was dismissed in the closing stages.
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Blues started the game with stage fright. Wrexham gained territory and the lead inside three minutes when Bailey Peacock-Farrell flapped at a corner to allow Jack Marriott to slam home from eight yards. That wasn’t in the script for Wagner and Brady in front of their special guest.
A Stansfield goal was. Blues’ record signing marked his second league debut for the club with the equaliser after Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo had spilled Alfie May’s shot in the 22nd minute.
With 72 percent possession and 360 passes, Blues dominated the first half but they lacked cutting edge in the final third. Wagner, Brady and Beckham stayed seated until half-time.
Blues started the second half in the right manner and quickly made their possession pay. Alex Cochrane delivered a cross that Beckham would be proud of and Stansfield headed home emphatically in front of The Tilton.
Iwata added his name to the scoresheet before the hour-mark with a sublime strike from distance. Paik Seung-ho intelligently touched the ball onto Iwata in midfield and he advanced forward before unleashing a left-footed piledriver that crashed in off the post.
A heated confrontation late on between Bielik and Paul Mullin saw five players booked. Bielik and Mullin were joined in the book by an irate James McClean, as well as substitutes Keshi Anderson and Andy Cannon.
McClean was hooked before he got himself sent off and Davies might have wished he had done the same with Bielik. Bielik was given his marching orders for a second yellow card after bringing down Cannon with four minutes of normal time remaining.
Blues held on for that and the seven minutes of additional time to end the night second in the League One table, still unbeaten and level on points with Wrexham having played a game less.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell 6
Fingers will be pointed in the goalkeeper’s direction again after his weak punch allowed Marriott to open the scoring for Wrexham but it didn’t prove to be costly. Peacock-Farrell was more commanding in the second half to deal with Wrexham’s aerial balls.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman 7.5
Gardner-Hickman was a surprise selection at right-back but took his chance with an all-action display. The only criticism of the Bristol City loanee – and Davies pointed it out to him at one stage – was that he didn’t always deliver the ball quickly enough when he was found in space in advanced areas.
Christoph Klarer 8
Klarer struggled with Palmer’s pace in behind in the opening exchanges but quickly got to grips with the Wrexham forward. The Austrian was adept in possession and dominant in the air.
Krystian Bielik 7
Bielik was having a strong game before he got involved with Mullin and McClean late on. He will now miss an important game against Rotherham on Saturday.
Alex Cochrane 8
Bend it like Cochrane. What a delivery from the left-back for Stansfield’s second goal. Cochrane was solid in his defensive work too.
Tomoki Iwata 8.5
Iwata was extremely impressive in the way that he moved the ball, and the way that he battled to retrieve it. Blues have found themselves a midfield warrior who is clearly capable of chipping in with the odd goal.
Paik Seung-ho 8
The touch Paik made to set up Iwata shouldn’t be overlooked. It was effortlessly brilliant, as was much of his play throughout.
Willum Willumsson 7.5
Willumsson played slightly out of position on the right but took up central positions when Blues were in possession. He was one of the main protagonists in a good performance and used the ball well.
Alfie May 6
May has been the main act for Blues for much of this season but he had to play a supporting role against Wrexham. He didn’t look entirely comfortable playing off Stansfield.
Emil Hansson 6.5
Hansson was lively and worked his way into good positions, but his delivery from out wide was poor more often than not. The Swede needs to add some assists to his name to keep his place in the team.
Jay Stansfield 9*
Stansfield was superb. He justified his selection as the centre-forward with two goals and showed the quality of a player who shouldn’t be playing at this level.
SUBS
Alfons Sampsted (for Gardner-Hickman, 65) 6
Sampsted was solid enough at right-back and got forward when he could. He had to do more defending than Gardner-Hickman as Wrexham rallied a little bit late on.
Lyndon Dykes (for May, 65) 6
A different sort of striker to Stansfield and May but effective in his own way. Dykes was a handful for Wrexham’s already weary defenders.
Keshi Anderson (for Hansson, 72) 6
Anderson might be able to force his way back in after injury due to Hansson inconsistent form. Booked for his involvement in the second half scuffle.
Marc Leonard (for Stansfield, 72) 6
Leonard was tidy in possession to help Blues see the game out. He actually played slightly ahead of Paik on this occasion.
Ben Davies (for Iwata, 87) N/A
Not used: Allsop, Wright
Attendance: 27,980
