Birmingham City were defeated by League One side Port Vale in the second round of the Carabao Cup
21:48, 26 Aug 2025Updated 21:49, 26 Aug 2025
Birmingham City reporter for BirminghamLive and the Birmingham Mail
Marvin Ducksch of Birmingham City
Birmingham City were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by winless League One side Port Vale in front of their own fans.
Vale secured a 1-0 win at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park against a much-changed Blues side courtesy of Jaheim Headley’s first half header.
Blues’ defeat means they still haven’t reached round three of the competition they won in 2011 since 2015.
Marvin Ducksch and Lyndon Dykes dovetailed up front and both provided Lewis Koumas with shooting opportunities in the opening 15 minutes.
Koumas couldn’t quite get Ducksch’s through ball under his spell and was snuffed out by Jordan Gabriel before the on-loan Liverpool man fired wide from the angle after being teed up by Dykes’ cute flick round the corner.
Blues fielded 10 changes from their weekend victory over Oxford United and their first half performance was disjointed.
Vale’s main threat came via set pieces and James Beadle had to pull off a fine save to deny Mo Faal when the striker met Ronan Curtis’s right-wing corner.
Ryan Crossdale was presented with an even better chance six minutes before half-time but he couldn’t convert Headley’s corner from six yards out.
It was roles reversed a few minutes later when Crossdale whipped a ball in from the right that Headley simply couldn’t miss. The left-sider stooped to head home unchallenged after sneaking in behind Blues’ defence.
Chris Davies introduced Alex Cochrane, Paik Seung-ho and Jay Stansfield at half-time and the ante was upped immediately. Koumas charged down Vale goalkeeper Joe Gauci who dallied on the ball and was fortunate that the ball rebounded over the crossbar.
Chris Davies, manager of Birmingham City, looks on prior to the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Birmingham City and Port Vale at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park
The increased tempo didn’t last long though and it was Vale who created the first proper chance of the second half when Curtis cut inside from the right to flash a shot inches wide of Beadle’s left upright.
Eiran Cashin had a sight of goal with 12 minutes to play and his shot appeared to be destined for the bottom corner before it was blocked.
That was as good as it got for Blues who lost on home soil for just the third time under Davies.
Blues’ wait to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup has now extended beyond 10 years.
James Beadle 6
The back-up goalkeeper made a couple of really good stops from Faal in the first half and stood no chance with Headley’s header. One criticism of Beadle is that he could have released the ball quicker with his feet.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman 5
Gardner-Hickman made a bright start at right-back and swung a few crosses in that weren’t attacked well enough but his attacking influence soon disappeared. Switched to the left-wing late on and he will need that versatility to get minutes this season.
Phil Neumann 4.5
The German didn’t command Blues’ box in the first half and it ultimately led to Headley scoring for Vale. Neumann didn’t look the same player without Klarer next to him and gave the ball away twice late on when he simply didn’t have to.
Eiran Cashin 5
Cashin didn’t cover himself in glory in the first half in what was, in fairness, an untried defence. He was sharper in possession after half-time but could have played forward more quickly at times.
Alfons Sampsted 4
Sampsted hasn’t had much football in pre-season and struggled at left-back. He played a horrible loose ball to Headley that put Blues in trouble in the first half and the cross that set up Vale’s goal arrived from his side. It was no surprise that he was replaced at the break.
Marc Leonard 5
It wasn’t the result or performance Blues’ captain for the night wanted. Leonard looked a little ragged at times with Vale often going direct and cutting out Blues’ midfield.
Tommy Doyle 5.5
Doyle constantly tried to get on the ball and make things happen and struck a few precise passes in the first half that deserved better attacking outcomes. You would have expected a player of Doyle’s talent to force his way into the game but he didn’t.
Kanya Fujimoto 5
The Japanese playmaker has waited patiently for a debut after being an unused substitute three times but he struggled to get involved on his debut.
Jaheim Headley of Port Vale and Kanya Fujimoto of Birmingham City(Image: Photo by Joe Toth/Shutterstock)
Marvin Ducksch 5
Ducksch tried a lot and some of it came off but most of it didn’t. You could at least see his ability in the opening 15 minutes before Blues lost control of the game. Given his lack of a pre-season, Ducksch was never expected to last much longer than 45 minutes.
Lewis Koumas 6*
Koumas was a bright spark for Blues going forward and had two half-chances early on. He didn’t give in and showed more urgency than most after half-time.
Birmingham City’s Lewis Koumas during the Carabao Cup tie with Port Vale
Lyndon Dykes 5
Like Ducksch, Dykes showed some decent touches early on and created an opening for Koumas, but he was eased out of the game far too easily. The Scotland international did little to suggest he should be starting Championship games at the moment.
SUBS
Alex Cochrane (for Sampsted, 46) 5.5
Shored up the left side but couldn’t find a telling pass when he found himself in advanced positions late on.
Paik Seung-ho (for Fujimoto, 46) 5.5
Paik injected some quality into midfield and all of his work was neat and tidy without ever really threatening the goal.
Jay Stansfield (for Ducksch, 46) 5.5
Stansfield tried to force Vale back in the second half without success. He took a whack late on and limped around for the final few minutes.
Kyogo Furuhashi (for Dykes, 67) 5
The striker’s touch wasn’t on point and he wasn’t able to get involved much.
Ethan Laird (for Doyle, 76) N/A
Not used: Allsop, Klarer, Hall, Isichei
Attendance: 21,052
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