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What happened from there was, admittedly, a stroke of genius; former Coventry City talisman Hamer, only on as a substitute in the second half, spotted debutant James Beadle off his line and attempted to lob him from just inside the Blues half – something he executed successfully, but much to the bemusement of Chris Davies and his players, who confronted Ward.<\/p>\n
Stansfield, though, came good for Blues in the closing stages when he expertly finished off a move involving Willumsson, Anderson and Cochrane and it was a goal which books Blues a place in the second round.<\/p>\n
Birmingham City player ratings<\/p>\n
Beadle 6<\/strong><\/p>\nQuick with his decision making and calm with his feet in the first half, receiving the ball in tight spaces from the likes of Klarer and Leonard but never panicking. He was really quick off his line when coming a long way to clear danger he’d read, but was caught off his line for Hamer’s stunner.<\/p>\n
Laird 8<\/strong><\/p>\nHas a real fight on for his position in the league now after the signing and debut of Osayi-Samuel, and he played a leading hand in this performance. So positive from deep, willing to run, athletic and with an end product which might’ve brought about an assist on another night.<\/p>\n
Klarer 7<\/strong><\/p>\nImperious at the back. Winning practically everything in the air, keeping things calm and simple on the ball but also when it was appropriate playing the diagonals to the wings which he is capable of. Another night in the career of Christoph Klarer, basically – although he did pick up a late yellow card.<\/p>\n
Cashin 8<\/strong><\/p>\nA chance to look at the Brighton loanee. He has a big ask this season to break into the Blues team regularly but on this basis he’s a very useful player to have to call on when needed. Won a big header when making first contact defending a corner and some of his passing was very good. Clearly very happy to attack aerial balls, too.<\/p>\n
Cochrane 7<\/strong><\/p>\nOn the receiving end of a heavy challenge at the end of the first half which looked painful, but Cochrane was his usual self, helping to begin the move for the opening goal and almost scoring himself before half time.<\/p>\n
Iwata 7<\/strong><\/p>\nSnappy and aggressive but cool and measured when in possession. Some of his passing was excellent in the first half when he threaded moves together with Doyle ahead of him. Pressed and made Marsh make a mistake which led to one of Kyogo’s first half chances. Metronomic throughout.<\/p>\n
Leonard 7<\/strong><\/p>\nThere were brief moments in the first half when Leonard’s range of passing didn’t always make its chosen target, but in the second half he hit his straps, began to pull the strings a little more from deep with quick feet and an eye for a pass.<\/p>\n
Willumsson 7<\/strong><\/p>\nThe towering Icelandic operated over on the right hand side, rather than through the middle. There were times when he took too long on the ball and didn’t weigh his through passes properly, but despite that, in the closing stages of the game, he was on hand to keep his cool and tee up Stansfield.<\/p>\n
Doyle 8*<\/strong><\/p>\nSet pieces and deliveries from open play would appear to demonstrate that Blues have a real weapon in their armoury on this basis. Really clever when taking up positions and clearly has a real eye for a pass – and a willingness to bring out the tricks and flicks when pertinent. Fortunate not to have sustained a serious injury from a nasty challenge from Soumare, but a classy full debut.<\/p>\n
Gray 7<\/strong><\/p>\nEffort, persistence and relentless running in the first half, encompassed by two moments – the assist for the goal, through an error forced by his pressing, and then his tracking back from deep and way into his own half before winning the ball back was met with an appreciative roar from the Tilton.<\/p>\n
Kyogo 7<\/strong><\/p>\nScored once in the first half, might’ve had four – and that’s not even an exaggeration. On hand and live to the chance to bag after five minutes, but he could’ve scored even earlier than that and then he created a one-on-one for himself before half time but got his finish all wrong. He was relentless all night and deserved his goal.<\/p>\n
Substitutes<\/p>\n
Anderson (for Gray 45) 7<\/strong><\/p>\nPicked up where Gray had left off at the break, in working tirelessly and playing on the left hand side. Some brilliant work to win the ball back in his own penalty area under pressure from Campbell.<\/p>\n
Stansfield (for Kyogo 57) 7<\/strong><\/p>\nThings weren’t really falling for Stansfield up until his goal, and he did give up the ball once or twice, but his Cruyff turn to create his opportunity was majestic. Nearly scored a stunner when he lifted the ball over the defender and fired just over the bar.<\/p>\n
Paik (for Doyle 67) 7<\/strong><\/p>\nJust class, all the bells and whistles of a top footballer coupled with the honesty and work-rate that fans on the terrace demand. Superb set-piece delivery, really good cameo.<\/p>\n
Osayi-Samuel (for Laird 67) 7<\/strong><\/p>\nA like for like substitution, Osayi-Samuel brought with him the added energy, physical attributes and composure just when Blues needed it.<\/p>\n
Dykes (for Leonard 76)<\/strong><\/p>\nSubstitutes not used: Allsop, Neumann, Fujimoto, Gardner-Hickman<\/p>\n
Sheffield United: A Davies; McCallum, Cannon, O’Hare (Peck 45), Soumare (Bindon 55), Robinson (Hamer 56), Ukaki (Brooks 82), One (Campbell 56), Curtis, Marsh, Sasnauskas<\/p>\n
Substitutes not used: Cooper, Norrington-Davies, Barry, Seriki<\/p>\n
GOALS<\/p>\n
Blues – Kyogo 5, Stansfield 87; Sheffield United – Hamer 72<\/p>\n
The ref: Gavin Ward<\/p>\n
Attendance: 16,367<\/p>\n
Up next: Blackburn Rovers (A) – Saturday 16 August, 3pm kick off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham City report and player ratings from St Andrew’s after they overcame Sheffield United in the EFL Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,1205,748,393,4884,1206,10109,81676,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-342681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-jay-stansfield","14":"tag-kyogo-furuhashi","15":"tag-tommy-doyle","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115024673096325183","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Kyogo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Birmingham-City-v-Sheffield-United-Carabao-Cup-First-Round.jpg\")
Kyogo Furuhashi of Birmingham City celebrates(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Content](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755016403_380_0_Sky-Factbox.jpg\")
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