First impressions count for Birmingham as Karanka enjoys winning start against Brentford

One only gets one chance to make a good first impression and Aitor Karanka has done just that in his first league game as Birmingham City boss, overseeing a 1-0 victory over promotion favourites Brentford thanks to Jeremie Bela’s first half header.

Karanka was not the only newbie to impress though, for Blues, because George Friend was excellent at centre-back, Adam Clayton was disciplined in midfield while a tidy and hardworking Ivan Sanchez delivered the pin-point corner for Bela’s goal.

The game’s other Ivan, Toney, had a comparatively quiet first outing as Brentford’s new striker – League One’s top scorer with Peterborough last season – begins the task of replacing Ollie Watkins.

Strong, persistent and ruthless at his best, Toney should in time grow into the role, but here he dropped too deep at times to help a Brentford side that, surprisingly, spent more time without the ball in the first half than with it.

Toney was not helped, either, by the absence of Saïd Benrahma, who Thomas Frank claimed did not start for fitness reasons:

“Saïd started late back in training so had a slight lack of fitness. Then he had a minor twist of his ankle on Tuesday, so it wasn’t possible for him to be ready for selection for this game.” – Frank

Cynics, though, would suggest the Frenchman’s absence was down to reports of a move away and although Sergi Canos carried an energetic threat in his place, Benrahma’s level of technical quality was a big miss for the openings Brentford created.

Despite those chances, the Bees were below-par which was in part credit to Birmingham’s spirit and endeavour off the ball as the hosts pressed at a high intensity early on, with Ivan Sunjic at his tenacious best.

There were flashes of positive link-up play between Maxime Colin and Sanchez as well as signs of Jon Toral latching onto Lukas Jutkiewicz’s flick-ons as Blues saw promising early progress on new partnerships across the field.

A more familiar face in Jeremie Bela looked lively and the Frenchman forced a fine, early stop from Luke Daniels, who started in goal for the Bees amid question marks over David Raya’s future at the club.

Daniels would ordinarily be deputy goalkeeper, like his opposite number, Zach Jeacock, who made his professional debut due to having worked with the squad throughout pre-season, in comparison with Neil Etheridge, who only signed the day before whilst Andres Prieto had a calf injury.

Karanka was relieved the 19-year-old went untested in the first half, though the visitors counter-attacked through Canos and Josh Dasilva.

The latter hit the far post with a low drive midway through the first half, before Bryan Mbuemo blazed over from the edge of the area.

The moment encapsulated a wasteful afternoon from Mbuemo who, despite one strong, skilful run upfield in the first half, struggled to reach the technical levels we saw from him last season, which was especially problematic given that he was the only remaining component of Brentford’s excellent ‘BMW’ trio.

The 21-year-old’s wasteful moment was soon punished, because Ivan Sanchez’s right-sided corner found the unmarked Jeremie Bela, so often the sender of pin-point deliveries, who turned recipient by nodding home at the near-post.

Brentford had their chances early in the second half through Canos, Emiliano Marcondes and Mbuemo but still they struggled to truly stretch Jeacock.

The game’s finale could have been dicey for the hosts, who looked short on both counter-attacking outlets and tenacity from the front – aggressive centre-back Harlee Dean felt the need to prolong an individual press that ended with him temporarily moving up top.

Luckily for the B9 outfit, substitutes Dan Crowley and Adan George lifted them with fresh energy, lending Dean and Friend much-needed respite.

Kristian Pedersen was fortunate not to concede a penalty, but Birmingham otherwise managed the closing stages smartly for a victory that highlights Karanka’s impact on a side that conceded 18 goals and lost six games in nine games after the restart.

They will feel grateful not to have been playing a Brentford side at full-throttle – a more ruthless, clinical and settled Bees side would have likely have prevailed against an identical Birmingham performance.

This win was not pretty for Blues, but any victory here was never likely to be.

Brentford have refined their playing identity for nearly a decade, during which time Birmingham have undergone chronic instability on and off the field, so Karanka needs time to assemble a squad with which he is confident of attacking the upper-echelons of the division.

Karanka will want to add to the group in the coming weeks, but this is a great first impression.