Birmingham City 2-0 Wrexham: Blues end losing run to dent Red Dragons' top six hopes

Birmingham City players celebrates Christoph Klarer's (number four, centre) goal — Image caption,
The reverse fixture between Wrexham and Birmingham City at Stok Cae Ras on 3 October ended 1-1

Ian Mitchelmore

BBC Sport WalesSt Andrews, Birmingham

Birmingham City ended their three-game losing run by beating Wrexham at St Andrew's to dent the Welsh side's Championship play-off hopes.

Carlos Vicente's header - his third goal for the Blues since joining from Alaves in January - put the hosts ahead shortly after half-time.

Christoph Klarer netted Birmingham's second from a corner as Chris Davies' side - who rise to 15th in the table - earned just a second victory in nine matches.

Defeat leaves Wrexham in seventh, four points adrift of the top six with four matches of the regular season left to play.

The needle between the sides - who both earned automatic promotion from League One last season - was evident during what was at times a feisty encounter.

But it was Davies' men who were on the front foot from the outset as Tomoki Iwata, August Priske and Ibrahim Osman all had efforts early on.

Having survived that early pressure, Wrexham grew into the contest without troubling Birmingham goalkeeper James Beadle.

The Blues' best chance fell to Vicente in the final seconds of the opening half, although his shot was brilliantly smothered by Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo to ensure the score remained level at the break.

Vicente was not to be denied three minutes after the restart though as the Spanish winger headed Kai Wagner's cross into the net, despite the best efforts of Okonkwo.

Wrexham had scored in 10 successive away league games prior to the trip to the Midlands, and Phil Parkinson turned to Nathan Broadhead and joint-top scorer Josh Windass to give his side a chance of extending that run.

But the home side extended their lead from a corner on 71 minutes as captain Klarer poked substitute Paik Seung-Ho's delivery into the net at the back post.

Birmingham saw out the latter stages with minimal fuss to earn a victory that will ease some of the mounting pressure on boss Davies, leaving Wrexham with it all to do in their quest to secure a top six finish in the process.

Birmingham City's Carlos Vicente (right) celebrates with August Priske (left) — Image caption,
Birmingham City won for the first time since beating Queens Park Rangers on 11 March

Analysis: Blunt Wrexham faltering at key period as pressure eased on Davies

Birmingham flew out of the traps and - for long periods of the game - looked like the side who were gunning for a top six place.

They would have been hugely disappointed not to have been ahead at half-time, although they remained on top after the restart and deservedly took all three points in the end.

It will no doubt have proven immensely satisfying for head coach Davies given his side's recent run, with some fans raising concerns over his methods of late.

As for Wrexham, they got what they deserved. Nothing.

Their first touch in the Birmingham box came on the half hour mark, and they failed to register a single shot on target throughout the match.

Their xG (expected goals) was just 0.08, typifying their lack of creativity against the Blues.

Wrexham are no strangers to drama, and you simply cannot rule them out of finishing in the top six just yet.

Although, having lost back-to-back league games for the first time since the opening two games of the campaign, their chances are now significantly slimmer than they were just a few weeks ago.

Post-match reaction

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies:

"I really enjoyed watching the team today, I thought we were excellent throughout.

"When the opposition doesn't have a shot on goal and we had so many chances, that says everything I think.

"I just like the way we played forward more rather than recycling it."

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson:

"We came here today expecting Birmingham to play direct and go into the front quickly, which they did at Ipswich, and we were prepared for that.

"I thought first half, it was a competitive game and we handled those situations well. We lacked a bit of patience when we had possession in the top third of the pitch and made the wrong decision on a few occasions.

"We were right in the game, and we're just so disappointed with the goals we've conceded today because out of nothing, two moments have been really costly for us."

Player of the match

Carlos Vicente

8.76

Birmingham City
Wrexham

23 Carlos Vicente

8.76

4 C. Klarer

8.20

31 K. Wagner

8.07

5 P. Neumann

7.76

28 J. Stansfield

7.75

17 I. Osman

7.63

29 A. Priske

7.62

26 B. Osayi-Samuel

7.56

8 Paik Seung-Ho

7.38

25 J. Beadle

7.31

24 T. Iwata

7.28

14 J. Solís

7.19

2 E. Laird

6.94

7 T. Doyle

6.81

10 D. Gray

6.66

Back to team tabs

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals For	Goals Against	Goal Difference	Points	Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first
1 Coventry City	42	25	10	7	84	42	42	85	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Draw
2 Ipswich Town	40	21	12	7	71	40	31	75	Result Draw Result Draw Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Win
3 Millwall	42	21	10	11	56	47	9	73	Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Draw
4 Middlesbrough	42	20	12	10	62	42	20	72	Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
5 Southampton	41	19	12	10	70	50	20	69	Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Win
6 Hull City	42	20	8	14	64	60	4	68	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Loss
7 Wrexham	42	17	13	12	63	60	3	64	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss
8 Derby County	42	18	9	15	61	53	8	63	Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss
9 Norwich City	42	17	7	18	55	50	5	58	Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Loss
10 Bristol City	42	16	10	16	52	51	1	58	Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Draw
11 Queens Park Rangers	42	16	10	16	58	63	-5	58	Result Loss Result Win Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Draw
12 Watford	42	14	15	13	52	51	1	57	Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
13 Preston North End	42	14	15	13	50	53	-3	57	Result Loss Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
14 Swansea City	42	16	9	17	50	54	-4	57	Result Win Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
15 Birmingham City	42	15	11	16	51	52	-1	56	Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Win
16 Stoke City	42	15	10	17	49	46	3	55	Result Draw Result Win Result Loss Result Win Result Loss Result Draw
17 Sheffield United	42	16	6	20	59	59	0	54	Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss Result Win
18 Charlton Athletic	42	12	13	17	39	51	-12	49	Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Loss
19 Blackburn Rovers	42	12	12	18	38	50	-12	48	Result Loss Result Win Result Draw Result Win Result Draw Result Draw
20 West Bromwich Albion	42	11	13	18	42	56	-14	46	Result Draw Result Win Result Win Result Draw Result Draw Result Draw
21 Portsmouth	41	11	12	18	41	57	-16	45	Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
22 Oxford United	42	10	14	18	41	54	-13	44	Result Win Result Draw Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Win
23 Leicester City	42	11	14	17	54	64	-10	41	Result Win Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw Result Draw Result Loss
24 Sheffield Wednesday	42	1	11	30	25	82	-57	-4	Result Draw Result Loss Result Loss Result Loss Result Draw Result Draw

Key Events

Birmingham City

Wrexham

Summary

Live Reporting

Analysis: Blunt Wrexham faltering at key period as pressure eased on Davies

Post-match reaction

Player of the match

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Sunday 12th April

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home team,Birmingham City

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home team,Birmingham City

away team,Wrexham

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

away team,Wrexham

home team,Birmingham City

Pitch Formation

Starting lineup

Substitutes

away team,Wrexham

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