Ultimately, a game that until last week, was sold – and let’s face it, overegged – as a mouthwatering meeting between the partners of the protagonists in the Wagatha Christie libel case turned out to be about the 22 players on the pitch, after all. Jamie Vardy’s absence through injury meant a face-off of sorts against Wayne Rooney, the Birmingham manager, was never on the cards – and no detective work was required to identify which of these teams are favourites to win promotion to the Premier League. The Sky Sports cameras present here doubtless already have one eye on Leicester’s run-in.
Leicester, who have now won twice as many league matches as they managed across all of last season, are three points clear at the top of the Championship. Enzo Maresca’s understandable rhetoric about there being a long path to navigate yet is increasingly hard to take seriously. Two goals by Stephy Mavididi and one from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saw off Birmingham, who struck twice through Jordan James, in a lively but, in the end, predictable encounter. Rooney’s record since taking charge of Birmingham in October now reads two wins from 11 matches.
The tone was set from the moment Jay Stansfield, always a game runner, pinched the ball off Jannik Vestergaard and won a throw-in on halfway seconds after kick-off. Then the verbal slanging match started in the stands, the home support singing Rooney’s name before the away fans responding by chanting the name of Vardy, who has not featured this month because of a knee injury. Instead, a front three of Abdul Fatawu, on loan from Sporting, Mavididi, one of those to arrive following relegation, and Patson Daka were tasked with doing the damage.
There was a touch of needle before Mavididi incited the home fans with his celebration upon opening the scoring on nine minutes. The goal was outlandish in many ways, Mavididi coolly applying the finishing touch after Leicester surged upfield on the counter. Seconds before that, Leicester had from almost conceded after James Justin smacked a wild attempted clearance at a Birmingham corner against a post before Leicester raced towards John Ruddy’s goal.
Fatawu found Mavididi, who looped the ball over Ruddy and promptly sat smug on the advertising hoarding in front of the Tilton Road Stand, folding his arms and taking an ear-bashing from the locals facing him on the safe-standing terrace. Fatawu soon joined him before Harry Winks tried to play peacemaker, dragging his teammates away from the home fans. Mavididi was booked by the referee, David Webb.
There was an inevitable back and forth between home and away supporters, based on the trial that captured the imagination of millions around the world, and the game see-sawed in the early stages, too. James, the bright Wales midfielder, equalised with less than a quarter of an hour on the clock. It was fine effort, pocketing the ball into the far corner after neat interplay between the tricky Siriki Dembélé and Ivan Sunjic, who fired a pass into James inside the box.
Ruddy almost gifted Leicester a route back in, flapping at an awkward cross but Lee Buchanan hacked clear. A minute later, Leicester regained the lead, again feasting on Birmingham’s high line. Rooney turned his back in disbelief.
The move started on the edge of Leicester’s 18-yard box, where Ricardo Pereira, a £22m signing from Porto five years ago, dispossessed Juninho Bacuna, Birmingham’s match-winner in Cardiff last week. This time, Fatawu released Dewsbury-Hall, who soared between Dion Sanderson, the Birmingham captain, and his centre-back partner Marc Roberts before rounding Ruddy and crisply finishing into an empty net. “Rooney, what’s the score?” came the rather obvious riposte from the away fans occupying one half of the Gil Merrick Stand.
after newsletter promotion
If Birmingham had designs of pulling level again after the break, they were in effect up in smoke four minutes into the second half. Mavididi stepped inside off the left flank, on to his right foot, and his effort deflected off Emanuel Aiwu and into the far corner beyond a helpless Ruddy. Before Birmingham had chance to reset, Fatawu jinked inside Buchanan and curled a shot narrowly wide. For Birmingham, suddenly even the most simple task became a chore.
James, who joined Birmingham aged eight, never gave up and grabbed another goal with 74 minutes gone but a comeback was beyond them.
