Birmingham City lost for the third Championship game in a row at Charlton Athletic on Saturday, falling to a 1-0 defeat as their play-off hopes look almost over
17:04, 07 Mar 2026Updated 17:09, 07 Mar 2026
Birmingham City manager Chris Davies reacts on the touchline
Birmingham City succumbed to another long throw-in at The Valley as they were edged out 1-0 by Charlton Athletic for the second successive season.
Substitute Charlie Kelman repeated the feat Matty Godden managed in this fixture last season to prod home a second half throw-in that Blues’ defenders had failed to deal with.
A poor performance and a third straight defeat means Blues’ once promising season has reached the fizzling out phase.
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search
All eyes were on Lyndon Dykes in his first meeting with Blues since his January exit and the striker was eager to ruffle a few feathers.
He bumped Kai Wagner on his tender shoulder early on and had a bit of verbals with Jonathan Panzo before the game had really got going.
When it did, the first chance fell to Dykes. Greg Docherty slipped a ball down the left for Dykes and he noticed Ryan Allsop off his line but he didn’t get his attempted lob right.
Charlton had a clearer goal-scoring chance soon after when Dykes eased Christoph Klarer out of the way to free Tyreece Campbell to go clear. Campbell flashed the ball across to Harry Clarke whose shot would have beaten Allsop without a vital deflection.
Campbell – who scored Charlton’s equaliser when the two teams met at St Andrew’s in December – would have netted against Blues again but for a fantastic defensive header from Tomoki Iwata to deal with Sonny Carey’s wicked delivery from the right.
Charlton skipper Docherty had a header from six yards on the follow up but he couldn’t generate enough power to trouble Allsop.
Charlton might have taken the lead early in the second half but for a magnificent piece of defending by Christoph Klarer.
Campbell had broken Blues’ offside trap to find himself one on one with Allsop but Klarer came steaming back to make a goal-saving, last-ditch tackle.
Tyreece Campbell is challenged by Birmingham City’s Christoph Klarer
Chris Davies’ double substitution to bring on Ibrahim Osman and Jay Stansfield just before the hour briefly handed Blues impetus. Osman flashed a couple of balls across the box dangerously and Stansfield found similarly promising positions down the right.
Charlton boss Nathan Jones responded by introducing Kelman and the impact was instant. For the second season in a row, Blues failed to deal with a Charlton long throw-in and Kelman pounced from 12 yards to fire home.
Davies summoned Ethan Laird, Patrick Roberts and even Kanya Fujimoto in the hope of turning things around, but Blues barely laid a glove on Charlton.
At his press conference on Thursday, Davies insisted Blues’ season wouldn’t be allowed to just peter out, but this was a performance of that nature whichever way you try to dress it up.
Blues were easily beaten and any last remaining hopes of gate-crashing the play-offs faded at The Valley.
Get the latest Blues headlines sent straight to your phone
BirminghamLive has its very own Birmingham City WhatsApp community to deliver the latest headlines straight to your phone. Just click this link to receive daily Blues content and breaking news. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. Click on the name at the top of your screen while in WhatsApp and click ‘Exit Group’. Read our Privacy Notice.
Ryan Allsop 6
You felt more assured with the ball at Allsop’s feet but, more importantly, he wasn’t able to end his wait for a clean sheet. On an individual level, a fine return to the goal.
Tomoki Iwata 6
There was a vital headed clearance from Iwata in the first half and he powered forward at times in the second but his quality in the final third let him down.
Birmingham City’s Tomoki Iwata gets away from Charlton Athletic’s Tyreece Campbell
Christoph Klarer 6.5
The Blues skipper battled Dykes and kept pace with Campbell to produce a goal-saving challenge early in the second half in a performance where he didn’t do much wrong.
Jonathan Panzo 6
Panzo was happy to grapple and wrestle Dykes and Charlton’s other attackers in an improved performance for the central defender but it wasn’t enough to keep a clean sheet.
Kai Wagner 6
You worried when Wagner started feeling his shoulder again after an early bump from Dykes but he soldiered on to complete the 90 minutes. The frustration is that the supply of crosses from the left has dried up in the past few games.
Jhon Solis 5
Solis’s return to the XI didn’t go as planned. The midfielder was sloppier in possession than usual and couldn’t cope with Charlton’s runners at times.
Paik Seung-ho 6.5
Paik was far more assured than Solis on the ball and carried Blues forward nicely at times, but he wasn’t able to have the attacking
Carlos Vicente 5
Vicente had more of the ball than Gray on the opposite flank but he didn’t do much with it. On the one occasion Vicente broke clear on the right and Blues had bodies in the middle, the Spaniard badly overhit the cross.
Birmingham City’s Carlos Vicente in action against Charlton
Marvin Ducksch 5
There’s very little middle ground with Ducksch. He’s either scoring or on the peripheries of a game – and this was the definition of the latter.
Demarai Gray 5
This was a rare occasion where Gray looked sluggish. His touch is usually on point but it let him down a lot and he didn’t create anything of note.
August Priske 5
Got caught up in a battle with Charlton centre-back Jones and came off second best. Jones almost got Priske in trouble with the referee and it was no surprise to see him withdrawn after a final warning from the referee.
SUBS
Ibrahim Osman (for Gray, 57) 6.5
Curled one effort over the crossbar and looked Blues’ best bet for a moment of magic after his introduction.
Jay Stansfield (for Priske, 57) 6
Found some good positions but didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength as Ducksch.
Ethan Laird (for Solis, 81) N/A
Patrick Roberts (for Vicente, 81) N/A
Kanya Fujimoto (for Panzo, 86) N/A
Not used: Mayo, Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Robinson
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK! All the latest Blues news on Birmingham Live’s Birmingham City FC Facebook page