Birmingham City's Phil Neumann celebratesPA Media

Wrexham and Birmingham City both gained automatic promotion from League One in 2024-25

Ian Mitchelmore
BBC Sport WalesRacecourse Ground, Wrexham

Phil Neumann struck twice as Birmingham City beat Wrexham to earn their first Championship win of the season.

Both sides had drawn their opening two league games and it was the Blues who controlled the opening half in north Wales.

They were denied an early goal as Ollie Rathbone produced a vital block to thwart August Priske.

But their strong start was rewarded when Neumann headed Alex Cochrane's corner beyond Anthony Patterson.

Jay Stansfield then blazed over with the goal at his mercy as Wrexham were again carved wide open.

Having been below par in the opening 45, the hosts improved in the second half and equalised through Callum Doyle who coolly steered Lewis O'Brien's cross into the net.

Although moments after Kieffer Moore and Stansfield had chances to score, Birmingham regained the lead as Priske's volleyed cross found Neumann whose glancing header beat Patterson.

Birmingham remain unbeaten having collected five points from their three league matches.

Defeat leaves the winless Red Dragons with just two points from a possible nine following a disappointing start to the season.

Analysis: Blues deliver as Wrexham's defensive concerns remain

The mood was far from rosy at Birmingham going into this match, particularly on the back of Tuesday night's emphatic 6-1 EFL Cup loss to Premier League Brentford.

But the Blues were dominant in the opening half and twice took advantage of the home side's defensive sloppiness to ease the pressure on boss Chris Davies.

Neumann will rightly take plenty of plaudits, but the vigour and desire in Birmingham's display will be immensely pleasing for all connected to the St Andrews club.

As for Wrexham, they have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their opening four matches across all competitions so far this season.

They were incredibly fortunate not to be more than 1-0 behind at half-time, and sadly for the Red Dragons, it is not a new concern.

Only five sides conceded more than the 65 goals the Welsh side shipped in the league in 2025-26.

It is a problem Phil Parkinson needs to resolve if his side are to be serious play-off contenders again this term.

What they said

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson:

"The game is won or lost at both ends of the pitch.

"I'm not bothered about possession - sometimes you have more, sometimes you have less.

"Some of our approach play was good, but in the first half we didn't play with enough conviction or belief in the final third."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies:

"It was a big win for us and I thought we fully deserved it.

"This is a tough place to come, we know that, Wrexham are a really good side, especially at home, but we looked like a proper team.

"We looked like a team that was together, and a good team with the way we were playing. We created three good chances in the first half and could have been further ahead.

"We showed the character you need to win games of football. The message before the game to the players was that you can't do it on your own, you have to be a team and you need each other."

Parkinson: 'Two of the softest goals we've conceded in all my time' at Wrexham

Player of the match

P. Neumann
8.93
2 C. Doyle
5.11
12 I. Kaboré
4.74
27 L. O'Brien
4.57
19 K. Moore
4.50
30 D. Imray
4.49
3 J. Ekomié
4.40
20 O. Rathbone
4.24
22 A. Patterson
4.20
5 D. Hyam
4.20
10 J. Windass
4.18
47 R. Longman
4.15
8 B. Whiteman
4.11
11 B. Cadamarteri
4.03
26 Z. Vyner
3.97
28 S. Smith
3.91
33 N. Broadhead
3.83
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