You don't expect to see attacking midfielders latching onto crosses by diving headfirst and dispatching the ball into the back of the net.
That is exactly what Jon Toral managed to do on Tuesday night in Birmingham City's 1-1 draw with ten-man Nottingham Forest.
Paul Caddis whipped a dangerous cross from the right wing and was met by a ghosting Toral who neatly headed the ball into the bottom right hand corner past Nottingham Forest keeper Dorus De Vries.
The 20-year-old Arsenal loanee continued to be prominent in City's search for a winner, hitting the woodwork from a deflected 25-yard strike. After being subbed in the 83rd minute, Toral took his place on the bench with the knowledge that he contributed a great deal to his side.
“I think how the game went with the red card (to Forest's David Vaughan) with 15-20 minutes to go, I think we could have pushed harder but you are always aware that on the counter they can score a goal and you don't want to lose a game with a man up," he told BluesTV.
“So, it was frustrating to take only the draw but a point's a point and at a difficult ground.
“In general it wasn't our best game and attacking-wise the quality wasn't 100% there but in those scrappy games we have to fight and I think we did that quite well."
Regarding his goal, Toral added: “It was a great ball from Cadds and I was in the right position and I just had to tuck in and I did it so it was good to score another header."
WATCH: Goalscorer Jon Toral spoke after last night's 1-1 draw against @Official_NFFC: https://t.co/5APVSMBqXP#BCFCpic.twitter.com/rgx7H3wKMM
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) January 13, 2016The former La Masia youth player has shown glimpses of his talent in his second season on-loan since joining Arsenal as a 16-year-old from Barcelona for a reported £300,000 in 2011.
After scoring six goals in 37 appearances when on loan at Brentford in the 2014-15 season, Toral has shown further development and maturity this season at St Andrew's.
Toral will be hoping to emulate his former Barcelona teammate, Hector Bellerin, who has now become an automatic selection in an Arsenal side that is currently leading the Premier League.
Five goals in 21 Championship appearances is a respectable total for the Catalonian but he must be under no illusions that he has to continue to raise his game by scoring and creating more goals if he wants to impress Arsene Wenger.
Check out the highlights with Toral's goal coming from 1:00 -
By Andrew Maclean
