Millers outclassed by big spenders ... on-the-whistle report: Rotherham United 0 Birmingham City 2
“REAL Birmingham,” Rotherham United manager Steve Evans has said in the build-up to today's clash at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
In a third-tier context, he wasn't far wrong.
The Millers were well beaten by a City team that at times played Championship football on a League One afternoon that brought boos from a section of home fans.
That was harsh. The big-spending Blues were simply too good for them and, in all likelihood, will prove to be simply too good for the rest of the division.
Manager Steve Evans had gone with a defensive line-up to frustrate the visitors but that plan was ripped apart within 22 minutes as the Blues swept into a two-goal lead.
It was a gap the Millers never looked like breaching as they slipped to 21st spot – a position that was in no-one’s thinking at the start of the campaign.
Rotherham actually made the faster start, but the first moment of real danger came at their end in the eighth minute when Jamie McCart had to block a shot from Jay Stansfield.
Stansfield, of course, is the third tier's £15-million man, the Blues having smashed the division's previous record transfer fee to buy the striker from Premier League Fulham to boost their quest for promotion.
They had arrived in second spot, unbeaten in the league and with four wins in their last four outings.
The previous encounter between the two clubs, in April, had marked Steve Evans' return as Millers manager and had finished goalless.
This time, the visitors needed only 14 minutes to take the lead as Tomoki Iwata drove low and hard into the corner of the North Stand net.
Soon afterwards, goalkeeper Dillon Phillips was equal to a Stansfield shot as the visitors took a grip on proceedings.
The attacker didn't need much longer to get on the scoresheet, however, as he latched on to a bouncing pass from Willum Willumsson and produced a deft lob of top-flight quality.
The Blues were firmly in control and it needed a diving save from Phillips to deny Emil Hansson when the Swede tried his luck from the edge of the area.
Evans’ frustration got the better of him and he was yellow-carded for his protests from the dugout.
The Millers came close to reducing the arrears in the 36th minute when McCart's header was bound for the bottom corner only for Bailey Peacock-Farrell to get down at full stretch and push the ball away for a corner.
Birmingham boss Chris Davies followed Evans into referee Edward Duckworth's book, even though he had much more to be happy about than the home management team.
Sean Raggett had returned to Rotherham's line-up for the first time since twisting his knee in the opening week of the season.
He took his place in a three-man backline, with boss Evans opting to use full-backs Joe Rafferty and Reece James as wing-backs in a change from the regular 4-3-1-2 formation.
For the second week running, the Millers were without key midfield man Liam Kelly, who is sidelined by a groin strain, and his presence was sorely missed.
Evans reverted to the usual system for the second half, bringing on Joe Powell and sacrificing Cameron Humphreys.
Birmingham remained on top and it required a last-ditch Raggett intervention to foil substitute Scott Wright after Stansfield had made inroads.
Substitute Jordan Hugill headed wastefully over when Rotherham had a rare sight of goal before Alex Cochrane hit the bar at the other end with a vicious, deflected curler from a short free-kick and sub Keshi Anderson missed when it was easier to score.
The Millers – who didn’t play well and weren’t allowed to play well – can console themselves with the fact that they won't come up against opposition of this quality again at New York this season.
‘Real Birmingham’, the real deal.
Rotherham (3-4-1-2): Dillon Phillips; Cameron Humphreys (Joe Powell H-T), Sean Raggett, Jamie McCart; Joe Rafferty, Hakeem Odoffin, Christ Tiehi (Jordan Hugill 74), Reece James (Cohen Bramall 74); Mallik Wilks (Joe Hungbo 74); Jonson Clarke-Harris, Sam Nombe. Subs not used: Cameron Dawson, Alex MacDonald, Jack Holmes.
Birmingham (4-2-3-1): Bailey Peacock-Farrell; Taylor Gardner-Hickman (Alfons Sampsted 79), Christoph Klarer, Ben Davies, Alex Cochrane; Tomoki Iwata (Marc Leonard 90), Seung-Ho Paik; Willum Willumsson, Jay Stansfield (Alfie May 79), Emil Hansson (Keshi Anderson 62); Lyndon Dykes (Scott Wright 62). Subs not used: Ryan Allsop, Ayumu Yokoyama.
Goals: Iwata 14, Stansfield 22 (Birmingham).
Referee: Edward Duckworth (Preston).
Attendance: 10,335 (2,168).