Lyle Taylor’s second-half penalty was the difference as Birmingham City got their revenge on West Bromwich Albion and landed the West Midlands bragging rights.
It was a game that, for the most part, lacked any real spark or quality but Taylor’s spot-kick in the 67th minute oozed class and gave Blues, on the whole, a deserved three points.
Here’s our player ratings as Blues get the win on a sunny Sunday afternoon at St Andrew’s!
Birmingham City (4-3-1-2): Etheridge; Colin, Roberts, Gordon, Pedersen; Bacuna (85’ Sunjic), Gardner, Hernandez; Chong (55’ Richards); Taylor (90’ Jutkiewicz), Hogan
Subs not used: Trueman, Bela, Graham, Woods
West Brom (3-5-2): Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Mowatt, Livermore, Gardner-Hickman (60’ Diangana), Townsend (75’ Reach); Grant (68’ Carroll), Robinson
Subs not used: Button, Kipre, O’Shea, Molumby
1. Neil Etheridge - 7
Had next to nothing to do but the way he dealt with Marc Roberts’ fizzing back pass in the first-half gives him an extra point.
2. Maxime Colin - 6
A quiet afternoon going forward but defended well.
3. Marc Roberts - 6
Solid for the most part, aforementioned venomous back-pass aside.
4. Nico Gordon - 7.5
A performance above his years against an experienced forward line. Impressive.