Birmingham City 0-0 West Brom: FLW report as West Midlands derby ends in dramatic stalemate | OneFootball

FLW report from St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for this local derby

Birmingham City were denied the chance to climb into the Championship play-off places after playing out a goalless draw against West Bromwich Albion at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Despite extending their unbeaten streak to eight matches in all competitions, Chris Davies' side were left frustrated on multiple occasions against the Baggies, who earned a second successive goalless draw in the process, whilst Eric Ramsay remains in search of his first win in charge of the club after being appointed last month.

Birmingham City 0-0 West Bromwich Albion

The first chance of the game came inside three minutes, with Albion captain Jed Wallace firing a low strike which James Beadle gathered with ease.

Blues' first opportunities came eight minutes later, as Paik Seung-ho's fizzing free-kick was headed behind by Jayson Molumby, before the South Korean's close-range header appeared to have been blocked by the left hand of Callum Styles.

The visitors then came very close to taking the lead midway through the first period as Wallace's shot across goal was deflected wide by Kai Wagner's heels.

Max O'Leary was then forced into an impressive save from Birmingham's subsequent attack as Bright Osayi-Samuel played a one-two with Patrick Roberts before aiming for the top corner, before substitute, Tommy Doyle, almost bent a corner kick straight past the Albion keeper.

He was then alert to Ibrahim Osman's angled effort on 31 minutes as Davies' side looked to make the breakthrough ahead of half-time.

Albion then saw three chances come their way in the space of 30 seconds on 38 minutes. Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba's curling strike was blocked by Phil Neumann, before Jayson Molumby and Alex Mowatt were also thwarted by a combination of Blues players.

The first effort of the second period fell the way of Molumby, who couldn't direct his long-range strike on target after an Albion throw was only half-cleared.

In what was their first spell of dominance in the second period, Birmingham substitute Carlos Vicente was able to pick out Osman with an inch-perfect ball with the outside of his right-foot. The Brighton loanee couldn't have caught his volley any sweeter, but he was denied by a last-ditch block from Charlie Taylor.

The same duo combined three minutes later, only this time, Osman sent his latest effort into the Tilton, before O'Leary pulled off another fine save as Marvin Ducksch let fly from 20 yards out.

Albion's first chance for some time came with five minutes to go, as Styles unleashed a fierce drive from 25 yards that was deflected off Neumann for a corner which came to nothing.

With two minutes to go, Ousmane Diakite was the most relieved man inside St. Andrew's as his loose header played Ducksch through against O'Leary, although the German couldn't make the required contact in order to chip the Baggies shot-stopper.

In the fourth minute of second half stoppage-time, August Priske thought he'd netted his first goal in royal blue with a glancing header. However, it was ruled out as fellow substitute, Demarai Gray, was in a clear offside position in front of O'Leary.

That wasn't the end of the drama as Christoph Klarer saw an effort cannon off the post, before Jhon Solis turned the follow-up wide with the last kick of the game.

Birmingham have moved up to 10th as a result of the stalemate, whilst West Brom have also climbed to 19th.

Player Ratings

Birmingham City

James Beadle - 6.5

Bright Osayi-Samuel - 6.5 (Iwata 57" - 6.5)

Phil Neumann - 7

Christoph Klarer - 7.5

Kai Wagner - 7.5

Jhon Solis - 7.5

Paik Seung-ho - 6.5 (Doyle 15" - 7)

Patrick Roberts - 6 (Vicente 57" - 6.5)

Marvin Ducksch - 6.5

Ibrahim Osman - 7.5 (Gray 79" - 6)

Jay Stansfield - 6 (Priske 58" - 6.5)

Unused Subs: R.Allsop, J.Panzo, K.Fujimoto, K.Furuhashi

West Bromwich Albion

Max O'Leary - 8.5

Danny Imray - 6 (Gilchrist 46" - 6.5)

Nat Phillips - 6.5 (Bielik 92 - N/A)

Charlie Taylor - 7.5

Callum Styles - 7.5

Jayson Molumby - 7

Alex Mowatt - 6

Jed Wallace - 6.5 (Johnston 61" - 6)

Isaac Price - 6.5

Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba - 7 (Diakite 70" - 6)

Aune Heggebo - 6.5 (Dike 61" - 6)

Unused Subs: J.Griffiths, O.Bostock, H.Whitwell, J.Maja

Chris Davies reacts as Birmingham City held by West Brom

Reacting to a frustrating night for Blues, Davies' initial reflections were: "Over the course of the game, I think we felt we could've won the match with the moments we had around their goal.

"There's a feeling of frustration, because I think we felt we could've got it (the win). In the end, we take a point out of it and that's how it is.

"I thought we grew stronger as the game went on, and obviously had a lot of late pressure. It was one of those nights," he added.

Asked for his thoughts on Priske's disallowed header, he responded: "I've seen it back.

"I think it's one of those where you could say, by the letter of the law, there's a potential offside. You see them given, though, you see them given a lot. Especially in this league.

"I thought there was a handball off the line from our early header," he claimed. "If there's VAR, that has to be a penalty."

"Little things like that went against us. I thought the goal-line clearance from Osman's strike was as good as I've ever seen.

"There were a lot of moments that didn't quite go for us. Naturally, there's a feeling that we wanted more."

Eric Ramsay's verdict as West Brom earn valuable point vs Birmingham City

Speaking post-match, Ramsay was extremely pleased with his side's battling performance, saying: "We had to follow up Saturday.

"We had to show the same level, plus, when it comes to effort, organisation and discipline, all the ingredients that we saw in abundance, because, where I can't guarantee that, over the course of the remaining games, we're always going to be there with fluidity and real flow to the way we play, we have to show what we've shown over the course of the two games.

"To get back-to-back clean sheets was huge. Obviously, that will be fundamental to us moving forward," he explained.

"I think we've made a real effort to adapt and find solutions. Certainly, what you've seen in the past two games isn't what you saw in the first four games.

"I think there were flashes of how I wanted the team to look, but not enough to justify continuing to do what we were doing.

"It's almost a case of 'building a house in a hurricane' to an extent," he stated. "We have to find solutions to problems quickly.

"They have to be able to look at us, the players, and see a group of staff that are going to be able to adapt and find solutions to problems in terms of availability and some of the other things we've encountered.

"I'm really pleased we've been able to get to this point, in what, as you can imagine, are tough circumstances," Ramsay added.

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