Birmingham 1-1 Southampton: Priske heads Saints ahead, hosts hit back

Birmingham made three changes, with Priske, Carlos Vicente and Jay Stansfield leaving and Paik Seung-Ho, Ethan Laird and Luis Vázquez entering. Divin Mubama received the cross in the area and headed it, but wide. And there were three more minutes of added time. In stoppage time, Nathan Wood and Luis Vázquez received yellow cards for a scuffle.

August Priske received the ball in the box for a powerful shot, but sent it wide. On the counter-attack, Ward-Prowse got a shot off, with Beadle parrying the ball away. Bree tried to finish the rebound, but also sent it wide!

Divin Mubama received Leo Scienza's cross and headed the ball, but sent it wide. Shortly after, Azaz managed a powerful shot, but it was blocked by the defense. Southampton then made a substitution, bringing on Lewis Dobbin for Leo Scienza.

Divin Mubama received a yellow card for a hard foul on Phil Neumann. Then Jhon Solis received a yellow card for a hard foul on Kuryu Matsuki in midfield. Both teams were committing a lot of fouls at that moment.

Larin received the pass in front and hit hard, but sent the ball out. Soon after, the two teams made one exchange each. At Southampton, Larin left for Mubama. At Birmingham, Patrick Roberts left for Damarai Gray.

Tomoki Iwata received the pass up front and took a powerful long-range shot, but sent the ball wide. Shortly after, James Ward-Prowse received a pass from Scienza and got a shot off, but Beadle made the save.

Carlos Vicente received the pass at the edge of the area and shot hard, but sent the ball over the goal. Shortly afterwards, Southampton made two substitutions, with Cameron Bragg and Tom Fellows leaving and James Ward-Prowse and Kuryu Matsuki entering.

Patrick Roberts received a pass from Iwata and attempted a powerful shot, but Peretz parried the ball away. Shortly after, Léo Scienza found Tom Fellows with a pass, whose shot was strong but blocked by the defense.

Stansfield received the pass up front and attempted a powerful shot, but it was saved. In the ensuing play, Birmingham won a corner, which was taken into the box but cleared away by the defense one more time.

The game was paused for a moment for treatment to Carlos Vicente, who was in pain after being fouled by James Bree, who also received treatment on the field. Both players then returned to the pitch and play resumed.

On the right, Southampton won a corner, which was taken into the box where Cyle Larin managed to get a shot off amidst the scramble, but sent the ball over the goal. Southampton, even playing away from home, managed to dominate the match.

Jhon Solis got a long-range shot, but sent the ball wide to the right of the goal. Manning, on the counter-attack, found Azaz at the edge of the area, who shot powerfully, but hit the defense, in yet another blocked shot.

Stansfield received the pass in front of goal, got a shot off as he entered the box, striking the ball powerfully and hitting the crossbar! On the rebound, Osayi-Samuel got a shot off, but it was blocked, winning a corner. Cochrane took the corner, and Stansfield headed powerfully, but wide!

Cyle Larin, on a pass from Azaz, received the ball up front and shot hard, but Beadle parried the ball away. Immediately on the counter-attack, Neumann found Priske up front, who shot from distance, with Peretz parrying the ball away.

We had a balanced start to the game, where Birmingham even managed to win a corner, taken into the area but cleared by the defense. Southampton managed to slow the game down early on, in a period of initial sluggishness.

The players took to the pitch and the ball was rolling for the clash between Birmingham and Southampton, in those first 45 minutes of the fourth round match of the 2026-27 EFL Championship, with all the action and excitement of the match here on VAVEL!

The two teams return to the field in the next round of the EFL Championship. On Sunday (6), at 7 am, when they host Wolverhampton. And, on Saturday (5), Southampton visits Lincoln City, at 7:30 am, in the next round of the competition.

Tomorrow the round continues, with West Brom hosting Charlton, Millwall taking on Wrexham, and Queens Park Rangers playing Cardiff, all at 2:45 PM. Closing out the round, 15 minutes later, Burnley and Middlesbrough kick off.

Later in the day, West Ham hosts Wolverhampton, Sheffield United faces Bolton Wanderers, and Swansea plays Watford. Then, at the same time as this match, we had Stoke City vs Norwich, closing today's matches.

The fourth round of the EFL Championship kicked off today, with several matches starting shortly afterwards, at 2:45 PM, where Preston hosted Bristol City, Portsmouth faced Derby County, and Lincoln City took on Blackburn Rovers.

For the game, Tonda Eckert had the following players available during the match against Birmingham: George Long, Jack Stephens, Welington, Kuryu Matsuki, James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Akachukwu, Princewill Ehibhatiomhan, Divin Mubama and Lewis Dobbin.

For the game, Chris Davies had the following players available during the match against Southampton: Ryan Allsop, Ethan Laird, Kristoffer Lund, Dael Fry, Seung Ho Paik, Kanya Fujimoto, Demarai Gray, Luis Vázquez and Marvin Ducksch.

With a 4-2-3-1 formation, Southampton's starting lineup for the EFL Championship match against Birmingham was as follows: Peretz, Bree, Wood, Schloterbeck and Manning; Downes, Bragg, Fellows, Azaz and Scienza; Larin.