Birmingham fans decided to invade the pitch, only to have their side’s goal disallowed and then get ejected by Rotherham stewards.
The Blues still find themselves firmly in the relegation battle after being held to a goalless draw against bottom side Rotherham.
The match, which was stopped for 30 minuted due to a medical emergency in the crowd, saw both teams struggled with their chances throughout the game, with Steve Evans taking charge of Rotherham for the first time since returning to the club following Leam Richardson’s departure in the week.
Jay Stansfield thought he had secured a late victory for Birmingham, but his goal ended up being disallowed in the 76th minute as the assistant referee raised his flag.
Birmingham fans decided to run out of the stand and invade the pitch in celebration, with Blues players complaining to the linesman over the very late decision.
Despite the draw, Gary Rowett’s side remains in 21st place, but they now have a two-point advantage over Huddersfield Town with only two games left to play.
Rotherham stay at the bottom of the table with 24 points, but it’s a positive start under Evans in ending a three-match losing streak.
Disallowed 🚫 #bcfc #kro #rotbir pic.twitter.com/kvQRgqbSGf
— CMF (@Ohffs1984) April 20, 2024
Seems the right decision #BCFC pic.twitter.com/mZR5bd8FQQ
— Dan Tanner (@danieltanner) April 20, 2024
Speaking after the game, Rotherham boss Steve Evans offered his thoughts to the supporter who was taken ill.
“I think the first thing that I did with our press guys was ask at half-time what the situation was and then again at the end of the game. We understand that he’s critical but he’s still alive and in hospital.
“I’m sure that every Miller and every person, whether that be Sheffield Wednesday supporters or anyone is sending their love. Somebody has come to watch a game of football and our thoughts and prayers are with him and hopefully he comes through.
“I thought it was excellent [the performance]. We’re a big believer not just in how it looks on the eye, but also the stats.
“I think we were almost up to 20% up on every player based on distances, high speeds and intensities versus all season and that is to their credit.
“I think we probably lacked a bit of quality or luck in the final third, especially in the first half when we had really good opportunities to hurt them.
“That seems heavily critical because we’ve lost key players again. I’m not going to moan about injured players over the course of the season but the boys we’ve brought off the bench have put in big performances too.
“I thought Jordan Hugill was brilliant today. Absolutely brilliant. In the end his legs fell off him.
“I could keep going.”
🗣️ Steve Evans reacts to a 0-0 draw with Birmingham in his return as Rotherham United boss #RUFC pic.twitter.com/BkVy4y7PNa
— Football Heaven (@footballheaven) April 20, 2024
Speaking to BluesTV post-match, Gary Rowett steered clear of putting the outcome solely on that offside call and called upon the Men’s First Team to take matters into their own hands, ensuring they are not relying on decisions out of their control.
“You have got to show composure, you have got to show quality. There were times when we had the chance to play round it (the press), a bit of skill to get out of it and break that physical way that they want to put you under pressure.
“Second-half, as soon as we moved the ball a bit, we got into better positions, suddenly you open it up and then it is down to whether you have got the quality to finish it off.
“We didn’t do it often enough first-half, a little more second-half, a little more composure, we just couldn’t find the final goal.”
Rotherham United (4-3-1-2): Viktor Johansson, Peter Kioso (Cohen Bramall 37), Lee Peltier, Cameron Humphreys, Seb Revan, Ollie Rathbone (captain), Andy Rinomhota, Cafu (Arvin Appiah 32), Hakeem Odoffin, Jordan Hugill (Tom Eaves 82), Sam Nombe.
Substitutes not used: Dillon Phillips, Grant Hall, Femi Seriki, Ben Hatton.
Bookings: Humphreys 52, Eaves 85.
Blues (4-1-4-1): John Ruddy (Captain), Ethan Laird, Krystian Bielik, Dion Sanderson, Lee Buchanan, Ivan Sunjic, Oliver Burke (Koji Miyoshi 46), Paik Seung-ho, Tyler Roberts (Juninho Bacuna 59), Keshi Anderson (Siriki Dembele 77), Jay Stansfield (Scott Hogan 89).
Substitutes not used: Neil Etheridge, Marc Roberts, Jordan James, Gary Gardner, George Hall.
Bookings: Anderson 63, Stansfield 76, Peltier 87.
Referee: Keith Stroud
Twitter users reacted after seeing Birmingham fans invade the pitch only to have the goal disallowed and get ejected by Rotherham stewards…
@bathropson: Didn’t see owt wrong with the #bcfc goal, but it was a great laugh seeing one of their supporters fall on his arse in front of the stewards 😂 #rufc
@evansadele123: Bet that #bcfc fan feels a bit of a nob…running on pitch thinking you’ve scored, falls over… no goal & escorted out of the stadium. Byeeee #rufc
@lachlan1874: Pitch invading for a disallowed goal😭
@shillman93: On the pitch for it to be offside and a nice stadium ban 😂😂😂 #rufc
@tom_avfc1: on the pitch for a disallowed goal🤣🤣🤣🤣
@steven_swfc70: Points deduction for invading pitch
@Jaydddeeeeennn1: Why tf are they pitch invading for??
@avfc_nod: Hahaha they all ran on the pitch against ROTHERHAM and it got disallowed🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@IainM211: Highlight of the season for me
@CcfcAddy: Shiiiit you can see a fan try to run to the linesman and get intercepted by a steward 😲
@cckyne: Imagine invading the pitch for scoring against Rotherham, just for it to be disallowed. Shows their level, shit club
@GEGE71073851290: Celebrated like they won the champions league 😂😂😂
@AVFCCharlie: 3 year banning order for celebrating a 0-0 🤣🤣
@_ElliotAV: 3 year banning order for a disallowed goal oof
Imagine being escorted out for that 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 #rufc #bcfc
— 𝕂𝕖𝕧 𝕁𝕠𝕙𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕟 (@kevjohnson77) April 20, 2024
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