First half
To begin with, it looks like we adopted for a 4-4-2 diamond with Hannibal being the furthest forward helping the strikers.
We came out like a team which was full of confidence, hunting in packs and causing Albion to give us the ball back, never letting them rest. On the 10th minute, a moment of pure genius and awareness from the Tunisian maestro, Hannibal, gave us the lead when he saw the Albion goalkeeper too far over from a free kick and decided to test his luck with a shot at the near post.
You could see the intensity from all the players was there and never really let Albion settle into the game. We had a clear game plan and shape, which was to let Juke cause as many problems in the air and then trigger the press when we could.
Long gave us a scare with a dodgy pass back to Ruddy, which he just about dealt with. Other than that, we were phenomenal at the back and hardly gave Albion a sniff.
There were a few half chances for Blues, one falling to Chongy, forcing a good save from Button.
I thought the referee was poor first half and gave the away team a lot more, letting them get away with a lot as well.
Overall, a fantastic first half from the Blues. Hannibal and Bacuna were excellent!
Second half
We came out with a little less intensity and let Albion have the ball for the first 5 mins to see what they could do, the answer to that being nothing!
On the 52nd minute, a corner from the MOTM, Hannibal, putting a peach of ball in to find Bielik (who I’ve given stick to in recent games) rising above everyone, including the goalkeeper, who was in no man’s land to put Blues 2 ahead.
At the 55th minute, WBA made 3 subs. Trusty finally let the ex-Villa scum, Albrighton, out of his pocket just to be subbed off.
Juke gave everything and on the 62nd he was subbed off for Gards. This gave way to a formation change, seeing us adopt a 4-5-1 with Hogan up top on his own and Gardner sitting deep with Bielik.
A lot more changes saw the return of Dean, Deeney and Hall after injury.
Following these changes from both teams, nothing really happened and it was a matter of Blues dealing with Albion as they did all game.
Albion never laid a glove on Blues and fully deserved the win throughout.
Final Verdict
We haven’t done the league double over Albion in 24 years, since the 98/99 season, and it was worth the wait.
From start to finish it was an absolutely fantastic performance, we never looked like conceding.
I would put that as our best performance of the season. To stop one of the in forms teams in the league and to keep a clean sheet was phenomenal!
It’s mad how much a win away in the 97th minute can boost the confidence, long may it continue.
On to Cardiff. KRO
Player ratings out of 10:
Ruddy - 6
Colin - 7
Sanderson - 7
Long - 6
Trusty - 7
Bielik - 8
Hannibal - 10
Bacuna - 7
Chong - 7
Jutkiewicz - 7
Hogan - 6
Subs
Etheridge - N/A
Friend - N/A
Dean - 5
James - N/A
Gardner - 5
Hall - 5
Deeney - 5
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