Game Report: Birmingham City 0-2 Fulham

Birmingham City’s weak home performance this season continued Tuesday evening as the team lost 0-2 to Fulham in the second round of the Carabao Cup (aka the EFL Cup).

The Blues fielded what was clearly a second choice side: of the 11 starters who stomped on Luton Town 5-0 over the weekend, only Croatian midfielder Ivan Sunjic started in this game. The only other regular first choice player who started this game was goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who had been sidelined with COVID over the summer. Manager Lee Bowyer also gave starting opportunities to Wolves loanee defender Dion Sanderson (who had been with Sunderland most of last season but was injured almost all year) and winger Jonathan Leko.

Despite that, the Blues stayed with the Cottagers for most of the first half, eventually conceding a Jay Stansfield goal in the 26th minute. They didn’t concede again until deep into second half stoppage time when US national team fullback Antonee Robinson put the game away. Nevertheless, Birmingham managed just 2 shots on goal in the game, and were outpossessed 62%-38%.

The loss is an indication that Bowyer wants to focus entirely on the Championship, where the Blues are currently in 8th place, but just 3 points behind the league leaders. Who, not coincidentally, happen to be Fulham.