Saturday 7 November 2015 21:41, UK
Birmingham boss Gary Rowett praised the attacking prowess of his side as they ran out comfortable 5-2 winners against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The St Andrews outfit ended a run of three games without scoring with a comprehensive display against a 10-man side, leading Rowett to believe his pre-game instructions paid off.
"I did ask them for a little bit more attacking quality today, and I felt we have been a bit wasteful in the final third, and not being ruthless enough," he said.
"I didn't quite expect such a good performance today, and to win at 3-0 in some ways let Fulham off the hook. We got into some brilliant positions, in the way we broke and kept our shape.
"Jon Toral was the best player on the pitch, in terms of his composure and his vision. We know what he's got - he's only 20 years old and starting games for the first time."
Birmingham powered ahead with two goals in the space of three minutes. Their first, after nineteen minutes, came when Stephen Gleeson struck first time from a pass by Jacques Maghoma to superbly drive home from 20 yards out.
Paul Caddis doubled the lead from the penalty spot after 22 minutes, when the onrushing Clayton Donaldson was fouled by Joe Lewis - although cries for a dismissal from the away fans were tempered when he received a booking.
It got even worse for the Londoners - and even better for the Midlanders - two minutes later when Toral fired home after a byline cross from Maghoma.
James Husband was dismissed for the home side with his second booking of the game, but the hosts were given a glimmer of hope on 66 minutes when Alexander Kacanilkic slotted home.
Donaldson made sure of the points, while a Ross McCormack effort in injury time was cancelled out by Viv Solomon-Otabor, to leave Fulham manager Kit Symons deflated.
"It's very disappointing, I fancied us going into the game, being on decent form with two big wins, so I expected better today," Symons said.
"We actually started the game okay, we had a few decent openings and then to concede two goals in such a short space of time is very poor defending from us.
"The third goal wasn't much better, and the sending off completely compounds it in the second half. At 10 men I thought we were quite brave and had a go.
"It was a fair red card, to be on a booking it was rash to go in like that, so I have no problems.
"We are a bit open, Birmingham sit back and look to counter - we knew what they were going to do."
