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Kings of the Cottage

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Being disappointed with only scoring five away from home isn’t an emotion often felt by a Birmingham City fan. At Craven Cottage on Saturday, Blues ran riot in what was their best performance in the Gary Rowett era and for many previous years.

The scoreline, 5-2, flattered Fulham, who sacked their manager Kit Symons yesterday. In all honesty, Blues could have had a cricket score. As well as the goals, Demarai Gray should have bagged a brace, Clayton Donaldson missed a couple of guilt-edged chances… it was a romp.

Barely recognisable was the team who had failed to score in their previous three outings Jon Toral, in the number 10 role, was absolutely outstanding. He was the link between Donaldson and the midfield that has been lacking in previous weeks. The man in the ‘hole’ remains key for Rowett’s team.

Stephen Gleeson, another superb performer, took his goal well and was the heartbeat of Blues’ midfield. His ‘get-and-give’ approach was the perfect compliment to David Davis’ harassing and breaking up of play. It was a near perfect away display which sent the 4,000 Bluenoses home in a delirious mood.

The wide players, Gray and Jacques Maghoma, produced an edge-of-the-seat performance and gave Fulham’s defenders a torrid ride. And young sub Viv Solomon-Otabor continued the trend when introduced and took his goal very confidently.

To top it all off, the back four were sublime. The full-backs, Jonathan Grounds and Paul Caddis, who have been criticised of late, were solid and showed a creative edge going forward while the two central defenders, Michael Morrison and Jonathan Spector, kept the hosts firepower very quiet.

All in all, it was a fantastic day for Rowett’s men who helped themselves to five goals, yet should have had double figures. Let’s hope they can turn in this kind of performance on their own turf when Charlton visit St. Andrew’s after the international break.

Twitter @TheWildeyShow

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