Birmingham City fans returned to St Andrew’s for a championship game on Saturday to secure the goalless draw with Stoke City.
Blues fans were allowed to play a league game for the first time since spring last year because of the coronavirus pandemic and mass gathering restrictions.
Lee Bowyer’s side have been unable to make a happy return home to B9 for Blues fans, but they have remained undefeated after three games of the season so far and have not conceded a goal.
Here are the top headlines from St. Andrew’s …
Mini game report
The Blues and Stoke drew an uneventful 0-0 draw at St Andrew’s, with both teams failing to match their wins on day one of the championship.
In the West Midlands, chances were hard to come by as either side lacked the creativity or penetration to squeeze out one of the rare opportunities that arose.
Gary Gardner had the ball in the net in the 90th minute, but was quickly disqualified for offside.
After a long throw-in from Marc Roberts, Harlee Dean headed the ball and Gardner was on the line to get the ball in.
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What the boss said
“That wasn’t an instruction from me, I wouldn’t say we were a waste of time,” said Blues boss Lee Bowyer when asked if his team had used time-wasting tactics.
“I would say you have a midsection that has to run or run 40 meters to take a throw-in.
“He can’t go on there. Because then he has to run back, run forward, take the throw and run back. He’s probably just taking a breather. They’re people. Tired. The pace of the game was fast.” We didn’t play for a point, I can assure you.
“If you had someone with a long shot like Robbo (Marc Roberts), your guy certainly wouldn’t jump up every time you can’t. He’s tired.”
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This is how the fans reacted
One fan wrote on social media: “A point and a goal conceded in a semi-open home stadium is not a bad result at all. Good start to the season. Up the Bowyer and the boys.”
“With neither team winning their two opening games, it just shows how open and close the championship will be this year,” said another.
“A home draw with Stoke is probably what I was expecting,” added a third fan.
“In Bowyer I trust, but I felt we should have changed our schedule much faster today,” said another.
A fifth fan said: “Blues are screaming for a 20-goal striker a season. Hogan’s not the answer for me. The defense looks good and the midfield has improved since last season with Ryan Woods.”
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Opposition view
“We didn’t do enough to win the game,” said Stoke manager Michael O’Neill.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel like we were ever going to lose. We looked at what we knew, with a lot of long throws and balls into the box. We handled that very well.” . We could have played the game better sometimes. “
Next
Blues welcome Bournemouth AFC to St Andrew’s on Wednesday (7.45pm).
