Rotherham United 0 Birmingham City 1
Dean (88)
Another game when a late goal won it for the visitors and putting the Millers in deeper trouble in the Championship.
It looked like a similar start to Thursday night when, like Coventry, Birmingham had the hint of an opener in the first minute with Lukas Jutkiewicz putting his header over from close range. The Millers came close on six minutes when Freddie Ladapo got the ball back from Lewis Wing only to see his shot go just wide. At the other end Angus MacDonald did well to take the ball off Gary Gardner in a dangerous position and minutes later a Steve Seddon cross found Jonathan Leko who shot wide. At the other end a Shaun MacDonald cross found Angus MacDonald who saw Neil Etheridge in the Blues’ goal get down well to save. A quick break from the Millers saw a cross from Clark Robertson find Michael Smith but he put the ball over the crossbar. A Birmingham free-kick just outside the box saw Gardner put the ball over before both Ladapo and Wing had shots blocked. A long throw from Wes Harding found Michael Ihiekwe in the box and although he brought the ball down he fired over the crossbar. A Rotherham corner ended with the ball with Birmingham with some good defending from Angus MacDonald keeping them out.
The Millers started the second half the better with a Lewis Wing corner causing mayhem in the box before Max Colin hooked it off the line, although a City player had his arms round Freddie Ladapo’s neck stopping him going for it, and a minute later Richard Wood found Wing whose shot was cleared by Harley Dean. A long cross from Wes Harding saw Clark Robertson head into the box with Michael Smith’s header ending on top of the net. The first yellow of the game went to Michael Ihiekwe for handball and ten minutes later Millers skipper Wood’s name was taken for a rugby tackle on Jonathan Leko. Some lovely work from Wing saw him find Freddie Ladapo who puts in a good ball but there was no Rotherham player waiting to collect. The visitors made the first change bringing on Ivan Sanchez for Riley McGree. Another cross in from Robertson again for Smith saw the striker miss from close range. At the other end a Leko chance was blocked by Wing for a corner which ended outside the box finding Steve Seddon who shot high before another Birmingham corner was blocked and found Ladapo who controlled the ball but referee Tim Robinson said it was with his arm. The resulting free-kick saw Viktor Johansson save from the head of Lucas Jutkiewicz before a number of City corners came to nothing. With ten minutes to go the Millers made a triple substitution bringing on George Hirst, Ben Wiles and Jamie Lindsay for Freddie Ladapo, Shaun MacDonald and Clark Robertson. Wing collected the ball and tried his luck from some thirty yards out but it didn’t dip enough to bother Neil Etheridge. Ihiekwe gave away a free-kick with a Marc Roberts cross finding the head of Kristian Pedersen who put the ball high and wide. But a minute later Birmingham were in front when Roberts put the ball up for Dean who headed goalwards with the ball hitting Ihiekwe as it went into the net. As the board went up for six further minutes City brought on Rekeem Harper and Scott Hogan replacing Gary Gardner and Jonathan Leko. A late free-kick for the hosts came to nothing with the last seconds of the game saw more changes for City when Sam Cosgrove came on for Lukas Jutkiewicz and Steve Seddon made way for George Friend.
Disappointed again. Another late goal against us which gave our opponents the win. I thought we looked leggy today and, to be honest, didn’t really understand the substitutions.
So, we go again on Wednesday when Neil Warnock is back at the New York Stadium with his Middlesbrough side. Another one the Millers need to win – but will it be too late?
