Birmingham City manager Chris Davies was speaking after his side went down 2-0 to Leicester City in the Championship
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies(Image: Matt West/Shutterstock)
Chris Davies lamented the indecision which led to Abdul Fatawu’s opening goal against Birmingham City but believes Ricardo Pereira should have been sent off before clinching Leicester City’s victory.
Fatawu curled home inside eight minutes for the Foxes after Blues failed to pick up a loose ball in midfield and it was always going to be an uphill struggle from there.
Blues manager Davies commented: “The first bit on the throw-in wasn’t right, we could have stayed a little bit more zonal, then he’s played a bouncing ball and it’s bouncing between two players, and there’s indecision.
“Obviously Ethan (Laird) is aware that Fatawu is behind him and we rush to get back but we can’t quite keep him onto that right foot.
“Fatawu will be one of the best wingers at this level, without doubt, and I thought Ethan did brilliantly against him. He was tight, he was aggressive, but it’s a key moment. It was a bad start for us.”
Former Portugal international Pereira came on during the second half and netted the Foxes’ decisive second goal in the 88th minute.
However, those of a Blues persuasion believe Pereira should have been sent off for a challenge on striker Kyogo Furuhashi long before he poked in Jeremy Monga’s cross.
“He was very lucky because it was a definite red card,” said Davies. “I know Ricardo very well and he’s a really good guy, he wouldn’t mean to hurt someone or be like that, but it doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to hurt someone or not, it matters whether it’s reckless or dangerous.
“It’s a red card and the fact he goes on to score the goal rubs salt in the wound. It’s not about needing VAR, the referee is close enough to see that. It’s a really poor tackle.
“We have moments on the pitch the players are under pressure to get right, and the officials have moments to try and get right.”
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Despite suffering a first league defeat of the season and a second inside a week following the Carabao Cup exit to Port Vale on Tuesday, Davies was pleased with his players’ showing at the King Power Stadium.
They enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and pinned Leicester back for large periods without finding the breakthrough.
Analysing the game, Davies said: “You can say we’ve lost 2-0 but it wasn’t a 2-0 game at all. I thought we conceded a really poor goal on our part, no doubt about that, but we recovered really well.
“You have to put into context how Leicester normally play to understand how we played today. They usually press high and dominate games, they’ve had more possession than any team in the league and they have been good.
“We’ve come to their stadium tonight and I liked a lot of what I saw. We were calm, controlled, composed with the ball and worked it well, we pressed them every time they had it, they kicked the ball out of play so many times.
“But when we got the ball towards their box, with all that territory, we didn’t put them under enough pressure with crosses and pressure.
“Right at the end they go up, having been near our box very few times, and get a goal with a chop and a cross. I did feel for the players and I did want to pick them up in that dressing room. They are gutted they have lost that game but it’s playing well and performing well that will generally get you results over time.”
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