A first-half strike by Brandon Khela handed 10-man Birmingham a narrow 1-0 Carabao Cup win at League One rivals Charlton.
Both teams making many changes – the hosts making five,
while the visitors made eight – did not prevent a lively opening to the tie.
Charlton should have taken the lead after just 12 minutes,
when Tyreece Campbell was upended in the area by Tyler Roberts, however, the
20-year old fired directly at goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, who collected the ball
comfortably. Fans criticised the pairing
of Campbell and Kanu up front.
Luke Harris almost gifted Luke Berry a goal after 26 minutes
with a loose pass, but the Charlton midfielder drove his effort just wide of
the post.
Birmingham stunned the Addicks after 32 minutes with a curled
effort from over 20 yards out by Khela as he celebrated his first goal for the
club.
The Blues looked more likely to add the second goal of the
night and Alfie May should have done better as he sent a weak 65-minute shot at
Will Mannion after finding space.
Charlton were badly missing the spark needed to draw level
in the contest, although they were handed a boost after 77 minutes when Dion
Sanderson saw red for his second caution.
After a Greg Docherty shot was fired across goal in
stoppage-time, Birmingham saw the contest out to progress to the second round.
Despite the result, Nathan Jones took pride in his side's performance, saying they were excellent out of possession: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/nathan-jones-proud-of-charlton-performance-despite-efl-cup-defeat-against-birmingham/
The supremo is confident that Tyreece Campbell will learn from his penalty miss. Jones hopes to convert him from a winger into a forward this season: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/nathan-jones-backs-tyreece-campbell-to-bounce-back-from-efl-cup-penalty-miss/
The Messiah may have taken pride in his side's performance, but few others did.
ReplyDeleteA poor result in front of the home 'crowd' which will just suppress the crowd on Saturday even further.
He talks about not winning the Carabao cup because he has other targets. Does it not occur to him a cup run is something the fans enjoy?
If the other target is promotion (hopefully) he needs to find someone who can threaten the oppositions goal. Someone like that nippy little Birmingham striker who got 23 goals in League 1 last season. I think his name is May?