Birmingham City claimed a massive three points away at Cardiff City in the Championship tonight, with some standout performances in the side.
It’s only a second win as Birmingham City boss for Wayne Rooney, but it’s a massive one for him and for the club.
Rooney had only claimed one win from nine games in charge before tonight. And a trip to top six dark horses Cardiff presented Rooney’s side with another difficult outing.
But Birmingham City looked like they turned a corner tonight.
Juninho Bacuna was the man with the goal, scoring just before the break to hand Blues all the points in what many will say is the team’s best performance under Rooney.
And whilst everyone deserves praise tonight, midfielder Jordan James stood out.
Jordan James shows Blues fans what he’s capable of
There’s been a lot of talk about James this season.
The 19-year-old is often in fine form when he plays for Wales, but it’s not always the case when he puts on a Birmingham City shirt.
Tonight though, James was influential.
He partnered Krystian Bielik and Ivan Sunjic in the midfield, but unlike before, Rooney obviously told him to get forward more often.
James provided a link up between the midfield and Jay Stansfield that seems to have been missing in recent weeks, contributing to what was a much more effective Blues attack on the whole.
Birmingham Live rated James’ performance as a 9/10, with Alex Dicken adding:
“Wales international James would have wanted to make an impression in his homeland – and he did. He was given more freedom than Bielik and Sunjic to go forward and combined well with Blues’ attacking players.”
More of the same needed by Birmingham City
Tonight’s performance sets a new standard for Rooney and Birmingham City.
Things seemed to click tonight and both Rooney and the fans will expect the same quality of performances going forward.
And for that to happen, Rooney needs to keep the likes of James and Dion Sanderson, who was also impressive tonight, in form.
Tonight’s new-look midfield was key; Sunjic came back in and bossed the midfield alongside Bielik, with James’ more attacking role being a key change to the system as well.
Up next for Blues though is a home game vs league leaders Leicester City.
The Foxes had to fight hard to beat Millwall 3-2 tonight, and with Ipswich Town keeping the pace on them, Leicester will be going all out for a win at St Andrew’s next Monday.