Chelsea 6-2 Birmingham 05/09/2011

[Hutch]

From the official site:

CHELSEA 6 BIRMINGHAM CITY 2

Posted on: Mon 05 Sep 2011

Summary

Schoolboy striker Alex Kiwomya came on as a substitute and scored a hat-trick as the young Blues recorded their first win of the season.

Birmingham had taken a 2-1 lead in the second-half, Anjur Osmanovic having put Chelsea in front with an early opener, but Ismail Seremba equalised and Todd Kane (pictured) made it 3-1. Then Kiwomya netted his three goals in the final 20 minutes to seal an emphatic win.

Team news

Youth team manager Adi Viveash drafted in second years Todd Kane and Jamal Blackman for their first youth starts of the season. George Saville also started as a permitted over-age player in the Under 18 League and with Rohan Ince also playing, there was an experienced core to the side.

Rubens Loftus-Cheek was a schoolboy starter in midfield which had two deeper players and one further forward, a reverse from the previous two games.Osmanovic was given the 'Number 10' role for the first time this season.

Up front, Lewis Baker played wide left and a little tucked in, similar to how he had done on the right for the reserves.

First-half

Chelsea started well. Osmanovic took on a defender on the edge of the box and curled the ball into the top corner for a quality goal.

However the lead didn't last long and the home side only had themselves to blame. A piece of sloppy play saw the team caught high up the pitch and Birmingham centre-back Bradley Gascoigne ran almost half the length of the pitch before drilling the ball into the corner. Given the balance of the half it was disappointing to go into the changing room all-square at the break.

Second-half

Kiwomya was the one change to the line-up at half-time but there was also a change to the Chelsea tactics as the ball was worked forward more rapidly. However Ince was caught on the ball, leading to Birmingham taking the lead.

Then Chelsea took control. Seremba scored his first goal of the season, a fine team move, and then the Blues went 3-2 ahead through a great individual goal by Kane. Osmanovic backheeled him in and the Chelsea right-back drove past the Birmingham left-back, getting to the bye-line and scoring off the far post.

All three of Kiwomya's goals were different types of finishing but all showed good movement as he worked off the last defender. The first one was made by John Swift with a fine through ball, the second ended another nice piece of team play and the hat-trick goal came from a 40-yard pass by substitute Alex Davey and was scored shortly before the final whistle.

The manager

'It was a really fine performance and I was delighted with the lads getting their first win of the season,' said Adi Viveash.

'Hopefully they will settle down a little bit now and kick on. It is a bit different when you come out of school and you start playing in a competition when there is a league table and a bit more pressure.

'George Saville gave us some real leadership and put in a fantastic performance. I was delighted with how he played.

'The equaliser was disappointing from our point of view and there were a couple of points we addressed at half-tie. In the first half we had switched the play very well but then we needed to go forward quickly. Birmingham had worked very hard and pressed with a high line, then after 30 minutes they dropped their tempo because the fatigue set in and we hadn't recognised the change in the game.

'So we made a little bit of a re-jig second half. We conceded a goal with a mistake from Rohan Ince unfortunately but he has been out a year and it takes time to come back.

'We were 2-1 down but credit to the boys, from that point on they really took the game by the scruff of the neck. It was a great individual goal by Toddy Kane, if he had missed I would have been going mad!

'With Alex Kiwomya it was great for an Under 16 to come on and make an impact like that but the older boys were good also.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Jamal Blackman ©; Todd Kane, Rohan Ince (Ali Gordon 65), George Saville, Adam Nditi; Rubens Loftus-Cheek, Anjur Osmanovic, John Swift; Tom Howard (Alex Kiwomya h-t), Ismail Seremba (Alex Davey 80), Lewis Baker.

[Hutch]

Match highlights:

[dkw]

I followed the scores on Twitter and it was quite close for most of the game, then our boys kicked on and scored for fun. By the way, this Kiwomya fella, any relation to the ex footballer Chris Kiwomya?

[Hutch]

The question was asked during the Weekend Review on Chelsea TV, the answer was that he is related to Chris Kiwomya, but I can't remember now whether they mentioned exactly how he's related.

However, having done a little research, it turns out that Chris Kiwomya is Alex's uncle. The following report comes from October 2010 shortly before he signed for us:

Chelsea to beat Manchester United & Tottenham to Rotherham United wonderkid Alex Kiwomya

]Kiwomya, 14, is one of the most highly rated youngsters outside the Premier League and has had impressed watching scouts with his blistering pace. The player's multiple sporting talents has seen him excel in the Millers' youth ranks and dominate the English Schools Athletics Championship as a record breaking sprinter.

The attacker - who is the nephew of ex-Arsenal star Chris Kiwomya - looks to be on the verge of a top flight move.

Chelsea's strong desire to add him to their academy should see them beat their rivals in the race to land the teenager.

LINK

[midlandblue]

thanks again Hutch