SOUTHAMPTON. Southampton tops Birmingham City 3-1. Southampton got an early 2-0 lead with 2 goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis (9′) and Carlos Alcaraz (22′). Birmingham City tried to recover with a goal from Jay Stansfield (58′). Notwithstanding, the match was closed by a goal (86′) scored by Adam Armstrong for Southampton. Southampton was surely better in terms of ball possession (71%) and that was among the factors of its victory.​

The match was played at the St. Mary’s Stadium stadium in Southampton on Saturday and it started at 7:30 am local time. The referee was David Webb with the collaboration of Daniel Leach and Mark Russell. The 4th official was Alan Young. The weather was rain and snow. The temperature was quite cold at 3.61 degrees Celsius or 38.5 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 100%.​

Match Statistics​

Southampton

3 - 1

Birmingham City

  • ! 71 Ball Possession 29
Shots
  • 11 Total 10
  • 5 On Target 2
  • 4 Off Target 6
  • 2 Shots blocked 2
  • 119 Attack 85
  • 60 Dangerous attack 22
  • 482 Ball safe 418
  • 0 Penalties 0
  • 4 Corners 4
  • 1 Off Sides 2
Fouls
  • 6 Total 12
  • 0 Yellow Cards 4
  • 0 Double Yellow 0
  • 0 Red Card 0
Other
  • 4 Substitutions 5

Ball possession

Southampton had a superior ball possession 71% while Birmingham City was struggling with a 29% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Southampton was more pushing with 60 dangerous attacks and 11 shots of which 5 were on target. This is one of the reasons why Southampton won the match​.

Southampton shot 11 times, 5 on target, 4 off target. Regarding the opposition, Birmingham City shot 10 times, 2 on target, 6 off target.

Cards

Southampton didn’t receive any yellow card. Regarding the opposition, Birmingham City received 4 yellow cards (Jay Stansfield, Jordan James, Gary Gardner and Emanuel Aiwu).

Match Timeline

T. Harwood-Bellis(goal)Adam Armstrong
9'
22'
44'
Emanuel Aiwu- Yellow
58'
J. Stansfield(goal)
57'
J. Stansfield- sub ->Siriki Dembélé
Joe Aribo- sub ->Carlos Alcaraz
69'
69'
G. Gardner- sub ->Krystian Bielik
69'
Scott Hogan- sub ->Oliver Burke
Ryan Fraser- sub ->Kamaldeen Sulemana
76'
76'
Koji Miyoshi- sub ->Lukas Jutkiewicz
76'
Marc Roberts- sub ->Emanuel Aiwu
80'
G. Gardner- Yellow
Shea Charles- sub ->Will Smallbone
81'
Samuel Edozie- sub ->Stuart Armstrong
82'
Adam Armstrong(goal)Samuel Edozie
86'
90'
J. James- Yellow
90'
J. Stansfield- Yellow

Standings

Standings
Team
Pts
Pl
Last 5
Leicester City
97
46
Ipswich Town
96
46
Leeds United
90
46
Southampton
87
46
West Bromwich Albion
75
46
Norwich City
73
46
Hull City
70
46
Middlesbrough
69
46
Coventry City
64
46
Preston North End
63
46
Bristol City
62
46
Cardiff City
62
46
Millwall
59
46
Swansea City
57
46
Watford
56
46
Sunderland
56
46
Stoke City
56
46
Queens Park Rangers
56
46
Blackburn Rovers
53
46
Sheffield Wednesday
53
46
Plymouth Argyle
51
46
Birmingham City
50
46
Huddersfield Town
45
46
Rotherham United
27
46

After playing this encounter, Southampton will have 24 points to hold in the 4th place. On the opposite side, Birmingham City will stay with 18 points like Swansea City and Bristol City to hold in the 14th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Championship, Southampton will host Coventry City on the 9th of April with a 4-2 head to head in favor of Southampton (5 draws).

Birmingham City will host Cardiff City on the 10th of April with a 12-4 head to head in favor of Cardiff City (9 draws).

Southampton – Formation

Southampton
G
Gavin Bazunu 31.Republic of Ireland
7.0
D
Kyle Walker-Peters 2.England
7.3
D
J. Bednarek 35.Poland
7.3
D
J. Bree 14.England
7.1
D
T. Harwood-Bellis 21.England
8.1
9'
M
Flynn Downes 4.England
7.9
M
S. Armstrong 17.Scotland
7.9
82'
M
Will Smallbone 16.Republic of Ireland
7.5
81'
F
Adam Armstrong 9.England
7.9
86'
F
C. Adams 10.Scotland
F
Kamaldeen Sulemana 20.Ghana
7.3
76'
F
Carlos Alcaraz 22.Argentina
7.5
69' 22'
Substitutes
G
A. McCarthy 1.England
D
Ryan Manning 3.Republic of Ireland
D
Mason Holgate 6.England
M
Shea Charles 24.England
6.4
81'
M
Joe Aribo 7.Nigeria
6.7
69'
M
Samuel Edozie 23.England
7.0
82'
M
Ryan Fraser 26.Scotland
7.0
76'
F
Sékou Mara 18.France
F
S. Amo-Ameyaw 27.England

Southampton started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

The manager Russell Martin decided to play with the following team: Ché Adams, Gavin Bazunu (7.0), Kyle Walker-Peters (7.3), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (8.1), Jan Bednarek (7.3), James Bree (7.1), Will Smallbone (7.5), Flynn Downes (7.9), Stuart Armstrong (7.9), Carlos Alcaraz (7.5), Adam Armstrong (7.9) and Kamaldeen Sulemana (7.3).

The home team had on the bench: Ryan Manning, Mason Holgate, Shea Charles (6.4), Alex McCarthy, Joe Aribo (6.7), Sékou Mara, Samuel Edozie (7.0), Ryan Fraser (7.0) and Samuel Amo-Ameyaw.

Substitutions

Southampton made 4 changes: Carlos Alcaraz for Joe Aribo (69′), Will Smallbone for Shea Charles (81′), Stuart Armstrong for Samuel Edozie (82′) and Kamaldeen Sulemana for Ryan Fraser (76′).

Best player: Taylor Harwood-Bellis​

The most impressive player for Southampton was Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

His rating is (8.1) with 1 goal, 119 passes (92% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 4 duels out of 5.

Birmingham City – Formation

Birmingham City
G
John Ruddy 21.England
6.4
D
Dion Sanderson 5.England
6.3
D
Cody Drameh 12.England
7.0
D
M. Emmanuel 23.England
6.3
D
Emanuel Aiwu 44.Austria
7.0
76' 44'
M
Krystian Bielik 6.Poland
7.3
69'
M
Siriki Dembélé 17.Scotland
6.3
57'
M
Oliver Burke 45.Scotland
6.8
69'
M
Lukas Jutkiewicz 10.England
7.0
76'
M
J. James 19.Wales
6.4
90'
M
Ivan Šunjić 34.Croatia
6.8
Substitutes
G
N. Etheridge 1.Philippines
D
Kevin Long 26.Republic of Ireland
D
Ethan Laird 2.England
D
Marc Roberts 4.England
6.4
76'
M
Koji Miyoshi 11.Japan
6.6
76'
M
G. Gardner 20.England
6.6
69' 80'
M
Brandon Khela 27.England
F
J. Stansfield 28.England
7.7
57' 90' 58'
F
Scott Hogan 9.Republic of Ireland
6.6
69'

Birmingham City started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).

Wayne Mark Rooney played with: John Ruddy (6.4), Cody Drameh (7.0), Dion Sanderson (6.3), Emanuel Aiwu (7.0), Emmanuel Longelo (6.3), Krystian Bielik (7.3), Ivan Šunjić (6.8), Oliver Burke (6.8), Jordan James (6.4), Siriki Dembélé (6.3), Lukas Jutkiewicz (7.0).

The following players were sitting on the bench: Koji Miyoshi (6.6), Gary Gardner (6.6), Kevin Long, Jay Stansfield (7.7), Neil Etheridge, Ethan Laird, Marc Roberts (6.4), Scott Hogan (6.6) and Brandon Khela.

Substitutions

Birmingham City made 5 changes: Siriki Dembélé for Jay Stansfield (57′), Krystian Bielik for Gary Gardner (69′), Oliver Burke for Scott Hogan (69′), Lukas Jutkiewicz for Koji Miyoshi (76′) and Emanuel Aiwu for Marc Roberts (76′).

Best player: Jay Stansfield​

The player that probably impressed the most for Birmingham City was Jay Stansfield.

His rating is (7.7) with 1 goal, 4 passes (50% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 3 duels out of 7. He performed 1 cross.

His performance was remarkable also because he started the match from the bench before entering the filed in the 57′.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Championship.​