Troy Deeney scored a late equalizer to help Birmingham produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Championship. In the Sky Bet Championship match, Deeney tied the score in the 89th minute after Scott Hogan gave the Blues the lead in the first half. Before Grimes, who initiated the play for the equalizer, gave Swansea the lead with his first league goal in 85 games on the stroke of halftime, Hogan’s ninth goal of the season was canceled out by Olivier Ntcham. However, Deeney’s equalizer allowed the Blues to extend their winning streak at home to six games. Birmingham, who has two losses in 12 games, got out to a confident start in an effort to duplicate their explosive start against QPR last week.
Their strong start paid off as they seized the lead in the 12th minute, although by taking advantage of some terrible Swansea defense. Tahith Chong’s left-side backheel set up Emmanuel Longelo’s cross, and Hogan, unmarked, tipped the ball home while goalkeeper Steven Benda flailed in the air. In six games, Hogan has scored four goals.
Prior to Swansea’s equalization in the 30th minute, it had been all one-way traffic. Ryan Manning was given space on the left by a fantastic diagonal ball from captain Grimes, and his sharply angled shot hit the post. Ntcham received the ball after it rebounded, and he expertly curled a shot into the far bottom corner, rendering goalkeeper John Ruddy powerless. It was the first time in 226 minutes that the home team had lost at St. Andrew’s. In the second minute of extra time at the conclusion of the first half, Swansea unexpectedly took the lead.
As Joel Latibeaudiere’s cross was swept in by the unmarked Grimes from 12 yards out, it was Birmingham’s turn to play sloppily defense this time. It was his first goal since January 30, 2021. Although Birmingham spent the whole of the second half in Swansea’s half, it took them until late in the game for them to tie the score again. Deeney scored from close range after Dion Sanderson headed in a corner from Juninho Bacuna.
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