Tag: championship

  • A rivalry renewed ends all square as Birmingham and Wolves draw 2-2 to end matchweek 5 of the championship

    Bipolar halves of football culminated in the points being shared as Jackson Tchatchoua’s moment of madness after 36 minutes ended the scoring. Adam Armstrong had a huge chance to take the three points for Wolves at the death, but he blazed over from 12 yards with the keeper left stranded.

    A chaotic first half between these two Midlands rivals at St Andrews saw the visitors go in front after four minutes as Rodrigo Gomes’ thunderous cross into the 6-yard box found Fer Lopez to bundle home his third goal of this Championship campaign.

    Wolves continued to push for a second with Gomes then forcing James Beadle into a big save on the counter-attack, but Birmingham found an equaliser through Jay Stansfield as he ended his eight-game goal drought in style, slamming the ball past a helpless Jose Sa on the half-volley after 23 minutes.

    The hosts weren’t level for long, however, as Ladislav Krejčí, who was heavily rumoured with a move away from Wolverhampton, nodded a bullet header past Beadle from a corner as Birmingham conceded their fourth goal from a set-piece this season in five games.

    Just five minutes later, a moment of madness had the Blues back level once more as Jackson Tchatchoua lofted a ball in the direction of his own keeper from 30 yards out only to find the back of the net 36 minutes in.

    Wolves then looked to retake the lead yet again but could only find the crossbar through a fantastic free-kick effort from Rul Jimenez as the sides went in all tied at 2-2.

    The second half was fairly subdued in contrast to the frantic first half that the capacity crowd and Birmingham owner, Tom Wagner, were able to enjoy, as he returned to the stands for the first time since his stroke at the beginning of the year.

    The Blues looked most likely to break the deadlock but the closest they came was a deflected effort from Phil Neumann which hit the bar. Marvin Duksch tested Sa with a late free-kick, but Birmingham found themselves still unbeaten at the full-time whistle, but with four draws out of five games, they’ll be hoping to turn these games into three points.

    Wolves find themselves in 9th place in the championship table, one place above Birmingham, but will be hoping to sort out their away from in the near future to ensure the best possible chance at their target of an immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

    Birmingham have a midweek fixture to look forward to away at Norwich, but Wolves will have to wait until next Sunday to return to action as they face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. Wolves were scheduled to have a game against Portsmouth on Wednesday, but it has since been re-scheduled twice due to clashes with other competitions for which they have received apologies from the EFL.

  • Pre-season promotion protagonists look for first win after shocking starts

    Kieran McKenna (left), Ruben Selles(right)

    Ipswich Town will host Sheffield United tonight in what looms as a crucial encounter for both managers chasing momentum. For Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna, this match is another opportunity to pull his side up the table after stumbling out of the blocks on their return to the championship. Their opponents, Sheffield United, have also struggled to regain the form that saw them make the playoff final last year as they have lost all four of their Championship games coming into this one, registering just one goal in that time from the left boot of Tyrese Campbell on the opening weekend. McKenna has made it clear that he expects the Blades to “climb the table,” stating that the men from the steel city have “had chances and most of their games have been tight. The margins are small.”  On the other side, Blades boss, Ruben Selles isn’t quite as optimistic for his sides hopes this season, arguing that the recruitment “has not been good enough this summer” and warned that his squad must show competitiveness and “a willingness to win the game.” These comments frame a match between two teams under pressure, but arguably in different kinds of trouble.

    Ipswich and McKenna are optimistic that they will be towards the top of the table come crunch time in May as they now don’t have the fear of losing their top talent with the transfer window coming to a close. The summer saw The Tractor Boys lose key players such as Liam Delap, Omari Hutchinson, and captain, Sam Morsy, but also a number of new arrivals and one who is yet to make an appearance is former rival Marcelino Nunez, who made the rare move from Norwich in a deal worth around £5 million. McKenna has said that the Chilean is “fit and could be involved on Friday night. You can see his quality in training.” Norwegian talent, Sindre Walle Egeli is also in contention for his first minutes in English football tonight after making a £17 million move from Danish side Nordsjaelland.

    Sheffield United left their business until late in the window, making four signings on deadline day, including Chiedozie Ogbene on loan from today’s opponents, who will be unavailable for today’s game, Alex Matos from Chelsea, and two much-needed centre-backs in Ben Mee and Mark McGuiness and the Irishman is optimistic that his new sides fortunes can change for the better as “the quality is there, it is a top draw squad, we need one little turn, and we’re hoping for that on friday evening.” 

    Ipswich last won this fixture in 2011, so The Blades can be optimistic of picking up their first points of the season but all eyes will be on their disjointed attack to see if they can convert the chances they are given.

    Written by: Tyreid Savage.