DIKE ROCKET IGNITES REDS
Stunner puts hosts into the play-offs
AN UGLY game was won by a beautiful strike as Daryl Dike blasted buoyant Barnsley into the top six with a seventh straight win.
Dike’s third goal in four games since arriving on loan from Orlando City was a gloriously clean hit, lasered with pace and precision into Neil Etheridge’s top corner from the angle of the box.
“It was exactly in my angle,” said Tykes boss Valerien Ismael, who played for Lens, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich during a playing career that also saw him represent France at youth level.
“And I can tell you it was something unbelievable. Incredible. It is something I haven’t seen in my career, 28, 29 years in football. It was a wonderful strike, a great feeling for Dike and for the guys.”
Dike, 20, arrived on deadline day and was granted a work permit only after making his debut for the USA 24 hours earlier.
“We were looking for a striker who suited our style of play and who could adapt to the Championship,” added Ismael. “Our CEO put Dike’s name in front of me and we knew this was the right guy for us.
“We knew we had to be patient and we knew it might not happen. But when you see exactly the player you want, you need to believe, to take a chance. The guys worked very hard to get the transfer done and now we are getting the rewards.”
An advert for Championship football – or any kind of football – this was not. For long stretches of a stultifying contest, the play resembled a volleyball rally. Header after header, hoof after
hoof. Each more aimless than the last.
So low is the overhanging roof at Oakwell that for considerable periods of time, the ball wasn’t even visible.
Birmingham were the better prepared for the attrition; Aitor Karanka deployed a team of giants to bully and intimidate the Tykes, a tactic that largely succeeded in nullifying Barnsley’s dangermen. It also created two presentable chances for Harlee Dean, who twice missed the target from Gary Gardner corners.
But where the famously conservative Spaniard was happy to stick, Ismael twisted, slinging on two half-time subs.
And that decisiveness was instantly rewarded as one of them, Jordan Morris, played an incisive crossfield ball to Dike.
There was nothing on, and Etheridge had his angles covered. Or so it seemed. Dike had other ideas, unleashing a bullet that seared into the top corner with such power that the Blues keeper didn’t even get close.
The result was harsh on a Birmingham side who battled manfully, but the reality – not for the first time this season – is that Karanka’s players did not show sufficient quality or ambition in the final third, especially after falling behind.
“We had 90 minutes to shoot and we weren’t able to get one on target,” said Karanka. “If I knew the answer why, I would tell you. All I can say is that I would never tell the players not to shoot.”
Blues remain three points above the relegation zone, though Rotherham – whose game against Brentford was postponed due to positive Covid-19 tests – will need to win just one of their three games in hand to reel them in.
“Our club hasn’t had one match postponed because we look after ourselves,” said Karanka. “For Rotherham, this is not the first time.
“Now they are going to play maybe when other teams know their positions. Brentford, for instance, could be in the Premier League, or safe in a play-off position. It is something the EFL need to check because it is not normal and it is not fair.”
Nor is it normal that Barnsley, tipped for relegation in August, are challenging for promotion.
“You see what you can achieve when you are ready to work really hard,” said Ismael.