Wrexham’s unbeaten start to the Football League One comes to an end after a defeat to Birmingham City at the St. Andrew’s Stadium. With this win, Birmingham draws level-in points with Wrexham and has a game in hand.
Labeled the “Hollywood Derby”, the match was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 27,980 including Wrexham’s owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Canadian-American actor and the American actor bought the club in February 2021.
Also in attendance was the 7 time Super Bowl champion, Tom Brady who is the minority investor of Birmingham City, and ex-England football captain David Beckham.
The match started with the away team on the front foot, creating some glorious chances in the early stages. Their pressure paid off when Jack Marriott put Wrexham into the early lead. The striker was quickest to react in the penalty area after Birmingham failed to clear a set piece.
As the home crowd became nervy, Jan Stansfield did justice to his hefty price tag, tapping in from close range to bring Birmingham level. Birmingham resumed their momentum after the break, and their dominance was rewarded when Stansfield netted his second of the night with a well-placed header into the corner.
Substitute Tomoki Iwata added the third goal with a stunning long-range strike to take the game beyond the reach of the visitors. Birmingham were reduced to 10 men late in the game when skipper Krystian Bielik was sent off for a second yellow.
“Birmingham have had an extraordinary opportunity this summer and every player we were going for, they were outbidding us and offering more in wages,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson after the game. “It was like, let Birmingham buy who they want and everyone else goes for the other players out there.”
On the other hand, Birmingham boss Chris Davies was expectedly thrilled after the win, labeling it as their “best performance” so far this season. “I think it was our best performance. We’ve had patches and periods in the games, but for an extended period that was the best we’ve played,” said Davies. “It was a really difficult start. That’s the first goal we’ve conceded from a set-piece and we’ve been strong in that area. But in the response, I didn’t see any change at all from the players. It was almost as if it didn’t happen.”
Before the season started, there were rumors that the game might be played in the United States but due to the overwhelming home support in England for both clubs, the match did end up taking place in Birmingham.
Wrexham will play Crawly Town in the next match while Birmingham will travel to Rotherham.
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Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
