Game Report: Birmingham City 2-0 Derby County

In a rare Friday evening game broadcast in the US on ESPN, Birmingham City ended its league home scoring drought against a struggling Derby County side managed by Wayne Rooney at the same time chalking up yet another clean sheet (5 so far this season already).

The Rams were relatively helpful to the Birmingham cause with poor defensive play through most of the first half. The Blues’ breakthrough came in the 31st minute when a crazed scramble in the goal area resulted in the ball falling to Scott Hogan with a can’t miss opportunity. Hogan nearly doubled his tally just a few minutes later when another Derby error gifted him the ball with Rams keeper Kelle Roos off his line, but the chip shot went slightly wide.

Derby however dominated most of the second until a deflected ball made its way to Jérémie Bela, who doubled the lead in the 81st minute with his first goal since January. After that the game was back under control and the Blues cruised to victory.

The match was also notable for the first appearance in a Blues shirt of beloved local boy Troy Deeney. Deeney entered the game in the 67th minute to a standing ovation but was not overly critical to the win.

City are now – temporarily at least – in 4th place. Next up is a second visit by league leaders Fulham, who beat the Blues 2-0 at St. Andrews in the EFL Cup two weeks ago. That game is Wednesday at 1:45pm.