Birmingham 2-2 Wolves: Points shared in thrilling West Midlands derby | OneFootball

Birmingham City and Wolves played out a thrilling West Midlands derby at St.Andrews this afternoon, with the points shared in the end after a choatic encounter.

Fer López opened the scoring for Wolves after just three minutes by stabbing the ball home from inside the six-yard box following a rapid-fire attack. Jay Stansfield levelled the score 20 minutes later, netting his first goal of the season with a superb volley.

Ladislav Krejcí was the man to restore Wanderers’ lead on the half-hour mark when he headed home from close range. A calimitous own goal from Jackson Tchatchoua followed, as the Wolves defender tried to play the ball back to José Sá but instead found his own net, birnging Blues back level.

As it happened

Wolves made two changes following their 4-2 loss to West Ham United last time out: Adam Armstrong and Krejcí replaced Mateus Mané and Toti Gomes. The Blues also made two changes, with Liam Millar making his debut for the club in favour of Carlos Vicente and Seung-Ho Paik replacing Jhon Solis.

Wolves took the lead after just three minutes, when a clever move down the right flank saw Rodrigo Gomes play the ball across to López, who stabbed home from inside the six-yard box. Blues broke forward shortly after in search of a leveller; Millar’s initial delivery caused chaos in the area before Sá eventually gathered the ball.

A miscommunication from the Birmingham centre-halves saw Gomes break free in the area and look to double his side’s lead, but James Beadle made an excellent save to deny him. Gomes was made to rue his missed chance just a few minutes later, when Stansfield lashed home an equaliser with a spectacular right-footed volley after making an incisive run between the Wolves defence.

It didn’t take long for the visitors to restore their lead, however, with Krejcí beating his man in the air and heading home from close range. López looked to double their advantage moments later, but he slipped at the crucial moment when trying to unleash a volley from the edge of the box.

A defensive disaster followed for Wolves, allowing Birmingham to equalise, when Tchatchoua tried to play the ball back to Sá but instead lifted the ball past his keeper and into his own net. Raúl Jiménez took on a speculative effort from a free-kick before the break; he came closer than expected, clipping the crossbar with his shot, bringing a thrilling first half to a close.

Marshell Munetsi was shown the first yellow card of the afternoon early in the second half for a foul in the middle of the park. He was quickly joined in the book by Christoph Klarer, who fouled Sá.

There was a much calmer start to the second half, compared to the first, with neither side managing to carve out a real goal-scoring opportunity by the hour mark. However, chaos ensued in the Blues’ box in the 64th minute, when Klarer’s header rattled the crossbar before López eventually ran the ball away from danger.

Moments later, they saw huge penalty appeals waved away by Adam Herczeg after August Priske appeared to have been brought down in the area. A double change followed for Wolves, as Mané and Jordan James replaced Munetsi and Gomes. Chris Davies also turned to his bench, replacing Millar with Demarai Gray, who scored in this fixture 11 years ago.

Klarer came close yet again in the 70th minute, after he broke free from his marker but was unable to direct his header on target. A change for Wolves followed, as Tommy Doyle replaced Jiménez; however, Doyle was unable to enter the field of play immediately after his teammate took too long to exit, instead having to wait for the next break in play, as per the new EFL rules.

That break came in the form of a Birmingham corner, which Alexander Cochrane delivered towards the back post, where it was headed back across goal to Iwata, who saw his volley comfortably saved. A double change followed for the Blues, with Patrick Roberts, Friske and Stansfield making way for Vicente, Marvin Ducksh and Luis Vázquez.

After absorbing virtually constant pressure for the best part of 40 minutes, Wolves hit Birmingham on the counterattack, but failed to find the net with Adam Armstrong firing over the bar from 12 yards. That was the end of his afternoon, as he was replaced by Neave. André was also withdrawn, replaced by Boubacar Traoré, as Wolves made their final change.

Having been subbed on earlier in the second half, Gray was replaced by Ethan Laird due to injury as Birmingham looked to see out the remaining few minutes of the match. Vicente won a free-kick right on the edge of the box in the dying seconds of the game, Ducksh took on the strike and forced a show-stopping and crucial save from Sá, meaning the game ended all square.