As the old striker’s adage goes, they all count, and Chris Davies and his players will certainly feel the same way this evening as they leave Brisbane Road with all three points.
Plenty of goals at the start of the game, but it was far from a blockbuster. A series of errors led to three early goals in what turned out to be a close-run encounter.
The opening goal of the game came from a great trigger press by Keshi Anderson, intercepting a pass from the goalkeeper to the left full-back. Alfie May did well to prod the interception back to Keshi Anderson, despite the desperate sliding challenge of Orient’s goalkeeper.
Anderson did well from a tight angle to slide the ball around the Leyton Orient defender into the bottom right-hand corner—a well-deserved goal for his performances of late.
Orient’s equaliser came from an unforced error: a poor Peacock-Farrell first touch was pounced on and manoeuvred well around the edge of the eighteen-yard box before Galbraith tucked it away in the bottom left-hand corner, potentially solidifying the claim that Allsop should be starting in games where we are likely to dominate possession.
Blues’ third goal again came from a high press, leading to Alfie May comfortably taking it around the sprawling goalkeeper and sliding the ball home.
After Blues took the lead, they seemed to settle and began to dominate possession for long periods. You could see the patterns of play that Davies has the players producing during the week, and Blues were able to control proceedings, albeit not threatening as much as we may have liked. Blues looked assured out of possession and comfortably dealt with Leyton Orient’s response.
The second half, however, was less than convincing. Blues couldn’t match The O’s intensity and struggled to get a foothold in the game, with Leyton Orient seemingly pouncing on every loose touch and slightly off-track pass, pressing high and attempting to attack whenever the chance arose. For all of Orient’s domination and pressure in the second half, they only really worked Peacock-Farrell once, when a counter-attack left Agyei one-on-one with Klarer.
Similar to Reading’s goal on the opening day, he skipped past Christophe, but his 15-yard shot was at a comfortable height for Bailey, who stood strong and pushed it away from danger. Both teams registered the same number of shots, with Leyton Orient managing more from open play. Blues never really looked like threatening in the second half and struggled throughout to gain back control of the half, something that Davies may look at this week and attempt to find a solution.
If you want some low-context stats from today’s game, then look no further: Both teams attempted to play through each team’s press, adopting a shorter passing approach. Blues managed 564 passes to Leyton Orient’s 369, with both teams playing approximately 55 long balls, and Blues managing 61% possession.
The majority of the game was played in the middle and Blues’ third, as shown by the heat map. In terms of threat, Blues had 12 touches in the opponent’s penalty area, whereas Orient managed 25. Peacock-Farrell made 2 saves compared to Hemmings’ 1. Orient’s average age was 23.1, whereas Blues’ was 25.5. Anyway, enough of that.
As I said at the beginning, Chris Davies will certainly be pleased to chalk up another three points, vital to not create a gap from the top at the beginning of the season.
However, I’m sure when he goes through an in-depth game review, he’ll be disappointed that Blues were unable to control much of the game and that Orient found it easy to play through our press in the second half.
With a few real tests coming up—Wigan, Wrexham, Rotherham, Peterborough, and Huddersfield all in the next six weeks—he’ll be hoping he finds a solution sooner rather than later.
That said, winning away from home when you’re not at your best is the sign of a good team, and it’s our first back-to-back-to-back series of away victories for almost a decade, hopefully a sign of things to come.
Ratings
Starting XI
Bailey Peacock-Farrell: 6
Bailey was at fault for Orients opener after a lazy, heavy first touch, however did do well to prevent Agyei late on.
Ethan Laird: 6
Much to some people's opinion, I thought Laird was decent again today. I think it's fair to say that his game is open to a few errors, however his endeavour going forward puts him in some very threatening positions and he linked up well with Keshi down the right hand side. The end product still needs work but at this level, he's one of the best top wing backs.
Christoph Klarer: 6
Dominant aerially and looked calm and composed in possession, making a few eye catching through balls. His lack of mobility did allow Agyei to glide past him late on (similar to Readings opener) however he dealt well with a similar situation just a short time later.
Krystian Bielik: 7
Aerially Krystian was dominant and looked very assured with the ball. He carried the ball well out of defence and played some nice balls forward. He's pivotal to how Chris Davies wants us to play this season.
Alex Cochrane: 6
I'm holding him to high standards from what I've seen this far, and on reflection 6 seems harsh. It was a decent performance again but with nothing much to write home about. Alex looked untroubled when performing defensive duties, both on the floor and aerially and links up well with whoever played ahead of him.
Marc Leonard: 6
Kept things ticking over nicely in between the lines but did get caught on the ball on a couple of occasions. A fairly text book performance but I'm sure he'll be disappointed that he didn't impact the game as much as he would've liked.
Paik Seung-Ho: 7
A real star in this division, he cruised through the game without ever getting out of second gear. His range of passing, composure on the ball and ability to cover ground to break down opponents attacks means he is absolutely crucial to Chris Davies system. Would love to see him have a little more freedom going forward.
Keshi Anderson: 7
Perhaps 6 is a little kind, but he's earned it in recent weeks. His performance didn't quite match the performances we have seen of him of late, however his link up play down the right was effective, he was strong, direct and did extremely well to slot home the opener.
Luke Harris: 7
Growing in confidence every week, I thought Luke was excellent. His link up play across the pitch helps string together attacks, especially with Hansson on the left hand side. He works hard and covers a lot of ground from the 10 position. After Leonard was withdrawn for Willumson, he dropped into his role and slotted in effortlessly. Another good performance from the Fulham loanee.
Emil Hansson: 6
Showing glimpses of what he is capable off, we never quite get to see the end product. Clearly a very talented individual just needs a game or two when thinks work more often than not and I think his Blues career will take off. He linked up well down the left with Cochrane and worked hard in and out of possession. Showing he fits the system a lot better than Dembele.
Alfie May: 7 - Man of the Match
It feels a little cheap giving May man of the match, again (although it could've been given to Krystian Bielik or Luke Harris) but Alfie Mays work rate was what won us the game. His tenacity to seemingly chase lost causes and make a real nuisance of himself led to both of Blues goal and set the tempo for the rest of the team. His influence dropped off towards the 70th minute, hardly surprising given the amount of ground he's covered in the first 3 games. Another well taken goal and top performance.
Subs
Willum Þór Willumsson: 5
Willum struggled to get into the game and looked to drift in and out of it. His first touch let him down on a few occasions and he didn't offer much out of possession. Not matching the influence he had against Wycombe.
Ethan Laird: 6
Taylor Gardner Hickman
Having not been in the squad long, Taylor adapted perfectly to the game. He slotted into midfield effortlessly alongside Paik and looked very calm and assured both in his defensive duties and in possession. He demonstrated his ability later on in the game recieving the ball on the edge of his 18 yard box, with a wonderful touch and turn to allow him to play out. A positive start for the new boy and I think he'll end up being a really wise addition to the squad.
Ayumu Yokoyama: 6
Ayumu looked a real threat. His pace, mobility and tenacity is a real threat in the final third, both in and out of possession. He is electric on the ball and is happy to immediately hassle opponents to win the ball back if dispossessed. He came close fairly soon after coming on, dancing with the full back and cutting inside onto his right foot, narrowly missing from the edge of the 18 yard box. Looks a supreme threat from the bench, it'll be interesting to see how he fairs when he starts, which I'm assuming will be on Tuesday.
Lukas Jutkiewicz: 5
Struggled to impact the game as the intended target man.
Koji Miyoshi: 5
Struggled to settle into the game and gave it away cheaply on a few occasions. Not much more to add.
