Birmingham City player ratings after Anderson and May goals beat Leyton Orient (2024)

Birmingham City have achieved back-to-back away wins in League One after edging past Leyton Orient 2-1 in the capital.

A calamitous first half saw three goals gifted to the forwards of either side and Blues came out on top. Keshi Anderson’s first goal for Blues and Alfie May’s third in as many games cancelled out Ethan Galbraith’s strike.

Blues have won three straight away games in all competitions and have now cemented themselves among the early pace-setters in League One.

Davies regularly rams home the message of ‘our press will be our greatest strength’ to his Blues players and it paid dividends inside seven minutes. May beat Orient goalkeeper Zach Hemming to an under-hit pass and laid it on a plate for Anderson. The winger composed himself and slotted the ball inside the near post to put Blues ahead.

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Orient quickly hit back and it was a goal all of Blues’ own making. Bailey Peaco*ck-Farrell’s loose touch saw him concede possession inside his own box and Galbraith punished him with a smart finish into the corner.

Another defensive calamity in the 20th minute, this time from the hosts, allowed May to put Blues back in front. May found himself clean through on goal and rounded Hemming and rolled the ball into the empty net.

Blues couldn’t quite muster control of the match in the remainder of the first half and were fortunate Orient captain Brandon Cooper couldn’t direct his header on target from a corner.

Davies has shown an appetite to change things quickly and, just as he did last week, the Blues manager made three substitutions inside 20 minutes of the second half. Willum Willumsson, Luke Harris and Ayumu Yokoyama’s introductions highlighted the undeniable strength of Blues’ squad.

We had to wait until the 77th minute for Orient to create the first chance of note in the second half. Substitute Dan Agyei broke clear down the left and smashed a shot goalwards that Peaco*ck-Farrell beat away.

Orient carried the greater threat in the closing stages and Agyei again went close when he powered a header over the bar. But it wasn’t exactly an assault on Peaco*ck-Farrell’s goal and Blues held on to take three more points in their promotion quest.

Bailey Peaco*ck-Farrell 6

Peaco*ck-Farrell takes most of the blame for Galbraith’s goal after his poor touch put Blues in trouble. The goalkeeper retained his composure and continued to play out which will please his manager.

Ethan Laird 5.5

After a positive performance at Wycombe last week, Laird struggled to assert himself at Orient. There were few occasions where he worked his way into attacking positions and his touch let him down at times.

Christoph Klarer 6

The Austrian is a towering presence at the back but he is susceptible to being outpaced when he’s isolated. Klarer is very accomplished in possession and strode forward purposefully in the second half.

Krystian Bielik 7

Bielik won the vast majority of his aerial duels and showed quality in possession when playing out. The Blues captain launched himself into some big challenges.

Alex Cochrane 7

The left-back is one of Blues’ most consistent performers and wasn’t troubled often by Orient. Cochrane contributed going forwards and combined well with Hansson and Yokoyama.

Marc Leonard 6

Leonard was by no means poor, despite the fact he was substituted quite early. But the Scot was caught out in the pivot position at the beginning of the second half as Blues tried to play out.

Paik Seung-ho 7

The South Korean cruised through another 90 minutes, first in a more advanced midfield position before dropping deep in the second half. Paik showed off his passing range and filled spaces intelligently.

Keshi Anderson 6.5

Anderson took his goal extremely well and combined well with his teammates in the first half. His influence waned after the break and he was withdrawn in the closing stages.

Luke Harris 6.5

Harris links play well in the number 10 position and found himself in some good positions before being withdrawn. There were a couple of occasions where Harris’s runs weren’t spotted by his teammates.

Emil Hansson 6

Hansson worked hard out on the left without ever creating anything clear-cut for his teammates. The Swede’s back-heel to set Cochrane away early on was delightful.

Alfie May 7*

The PFA League One Player of the Year had a hand in both of Blues’ first half goals, setting up Anderson for the first and scoring the second. May is much more than a goalscorer.

SUBS

Willum Willumsson (for Leonard, 55) 6

The Iceland international didn’t have the same impact off the bench this week. He could have done better when Cochrane fed him in the box but the ball bounced off him.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman (for Harris, 66) 6

A very tidy debut from Gardner-Hickman who slotted into midfield alongside Paik to help Blues earn three points.

Ayumu Yokoyama (for Hansson, 66) 6

You just never know what Yokoyama is going to do, maybe even he doesn’t. He whipped one effort just wide after bamboozling his marker.

Lukas Jutkiewicz (for May, 83) N/A

Koji Miyoshi (for Anderson, 83) N/A

Not used: Allsop, Sampsted

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