Birmingham 0 – Boro 2: Blues unable to stop visitors getting win
Birmingham on home loss to Middlesbrough at St Andrew’s Stadium on Tuesday. With both teams drawing in their previous fixtures, they were keen to pick up points. Birmingham were looking for a victory after a scoreless draw against Hull City in their previous match. Boro secured a point against Millwall in their previous match. As it stands, Birmingham and Boro currently occupy 19th and 6th spots in the table, with 41 points and 59 points respectively after 38 matches.
The Boro started strongly in the first half, thanks to Aaron Connolly giving Boro the lead at the 23 minute mark, finishing the first half 0-1.
Boro continued to pile on the pressure in the second and were rewarded, with Folarin Balogun finding the net at the 62 minute mark, leaving the final score at 2-0.
Both coaches used the full entitlement. For Birmingham, Scott Hogan, Tahith Chong and Juninho Bacuna, came on for Teden Mengi, Taylor Richards and Gary Gardner, Boro brought on Marc Bola, Duncan Watmore and Lee Peltier, to replace Neil Taylor, Folarin Balogun and Isaiah Jones.
The referee booked Matt Crooks for Boro and Kristian Pedersen saw the red card, for Birmingham.
Birmingham will next play Swansea City away, with Boro facing Cardiff City at home.
| Technical card: | |
|---|---|
| Birmingham City: | Neil Etheridge, Taylor Richards (Tahith Chong, min.55), Lukas Jutkiewicz, Nico Gordon, Kristian Pedersen, Onel Hernandez, Ryan Woods, Gary Gardner (Juninho Bacuna, min.76), Jordan Graham, Teden Mengi (Scott Hogan, min.33) and Marc Roberts |
| Middlesbrough: | Anfernee Dijksteel, Matt Crooks, Joe Lumley, Isaiah Jones (Lee Peltier, min.88), Aaron Connolly, Folarin Balogun (Duncan Watmore, min.81), Paddy McNair, Jonny Howson, Marcus Tavernier, Neil Taylor (Marc Bola, min.67) and Dael Fry |
| Stadium: | St Andrew’s Stadium |
| Goals: | Aaron Connolly (0-1, min. 23) and Folarin Balogun (0-2, min. 62) |
