Birmingham City picked up their first win under Lee Carsley after an Isaac Vassell goal saw the Blues beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0.
Dreary evening brought a dreary start to proceedings
Wednesday were looking to bounce back following their 4-2 Steel City Derby defeat to Sheffield United at the weekend. But after 10 minutes, there weren’t many chances for either side, with the game beginning to mimic the gloomy and dreary evening at St. Andrews.
On-loan Chelsea wide midfielder Jeremie Boga fired over the bar for Birmingham Adam Reach did the same for the Owls just minutes later. Boga then missed another glorious opportunity inside the Wednesday box, blazing over the bar again, but this time under pressure from Steven Fletcher.
For the remainder of the half, chances remained few and far between, with Reach’s aerial prowess the only real problems either defence would face as a relatively boring first half came to an end.
Second half was much improved as both teams pushed for the win
Wednesday started the brightest out of the two sides in the second half, with Jacob Butterfield finding Reach with a pass through the Blues’ midfield, only for Tomasz Kuszczak to turn the ball aside. This seemingly woke up the home side as Boga reversed the ball through to Cheikh N'Doye, only for the Senegalese International to lift his shot over the bar, much to the disbelief of everybody in the stadium. This kicked the game into life, setting up an intense final 20 minutes.
The Owls were celebrating on 71 minutes when Gary Hooper tapped in Reach’s header, only for the linesman’s flag to bring a quick halt to these celebrations. At the other end, Craig Gardner won a free kick for his side, curling the set piece just over the left post himself.
Birmingham stayed on the attack and within a minute, Jacques Maghoma sliced open the Owls defence with a delightful diagonal pass which Vassell calmly slotted past the on rushing Keiren Westwood.
Wednesday came back with a vengeance and, much like at Derby on Saturday, Birmingham were on the back foot. But unlike at the weekend, the Blues’ defence held firm, despite Lucas João getting in between two Blues’ defenders and getting a header on goal. Kuszczak was equal to it and Birmingham held on for a vital three points.
The result dropped Wednesday down to 14th place in the table and, despite the win, Birmingham stay in the bottom three.