Sarkic is a saviour
By AARON SUTCLIFFE at St Andrew’s
BIRMINGHAM boss Lee Bowyer praised goalkeeper Matija Sarkic after his heroics ensured they kept a clean sheet against Preston.
The 24-year-old made two crucial first-half saves to ensure the scores remained level.
The on-loan Wolves stopper first tipped Josh Earl’s low effort behind on nine minutes and he then denied Emil
Riis Jakobsen on 35 minutes when the Dane looked destined to score.
Bowyer said: “It takes time to adjust to a new club, especially for a goalkeeper. He’s doing that and it’s good to see. Competition for places is what you want in every position.
“Matija’s doing really well with 2 ........ Shots on Target ......... 2
Neil (Etheridge) 2 ........ Shots off Target ......... 4
not being 5 ................ Corners ................. 8
available. 10 ................. Fouls .................. 13
0 ............... Offsides ................. 3
“We looked 58.8.Passing Success
%...55.2
back to our 308 ...... Total Passes ......... 310
normal selves 50.6 .... Possession % ..... 49.4
and to get back 51.9...Territorial Adv %...48.1
to a clean sheet you’ve always got a chance of winning.
“It was more of a battle than a football match.”
Troy Deeney (above, right) hit the woodwork for the hosts after just five minutes from Dion Sanderson’s perfect cross, a miss that proved costly.
City also wasted the best chance of the second half when Maxime Colin was denied by Daniel Iversen moments after Andrew Hughes almost put through his own net.
The visitors were left to rue their missed chances in the opening period, which frustrated North End boss
Frankie Mcavoy.
He said: “I don’t think either side did enough to win, we both lacked that bit of quality in the final third.
“The disappointing thing was the chances we could have stuck away.”
BIRMINGHAM: Sarkic 8; Sanderson 8, Dean 6, Friend 6; Colin 6, Woods 6, Sunjic 6, Bela 5; Chong 6; Hogan 5 (Aneke 67, 5), Deeney 5 (Jutkiewicz 68, 5).
Unused Subs: Trueman, Oakley, Chang, Mcgree, Graham.
PRESTON: Iversen 7; Storey 6, Bauer 6, Hughes 6; van den Berg 7, Ledson 6, Whiteman 6 (Mccann 70, 5), Earl 7; Johnson 6 (Potts 88, 5); Maguire 6 (Murphy 70, 5), Jakobsen 6.
Unused Subs:rudd, Huntington, Cunningham, Sinclair.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Matija Sarkic. Made two crucial stops in the first half to keep the scores level.
REFEREE: Matt Donohue 5.