Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
MolineuxAttendance27,541.
Saturday 25 February 2017 07:39, UK
Gianfranco Zola secured a much-needed victory as his 10-man Birmingham side held on to win 2-1 at Wolves in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night.
Maikel Kieftenbeld and David Davis gave the Blues a two-goal lead at the break at Molineux, but Paul Robinson was then controversially dismissed before Nouha Dicko pulled a goal back for Wolves.
Birmingham held on, however, and Zola secured just a second victory since taking charge in December, lifting the club up to 13th in the table. Wolves, meanwhile, drop to 20th after Burton's draw with Blackburn on the same night, just five points above the relegation zone.
Zola would have been praying for a little bit of luck before kick-off after such a dismal run of form, and it came his way for Birmingham's opener after 27 minutes.
Neither side had created much in the early stages, but Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme managed to spill a simple Craig Gardner ball right into the path of Kieftenbeld, who was alert to the situation and managed to poke home.
And there was a touch of fortune, if not quite as much, about Birmingham's second as well, as a Che Adams pass took a deflection off a Wolves body before finding Davis, who showed a touch of class in his finish from just inside the area.
Any hopes of a straightforward victory appeared to be over shortly after half-time, though, as Robinson's apparent punch on Bodvarsson saw him dismissed, leaving the Blues with 10 men for the final 37 minutes.
Finally, after 63 minutes, Wolves created a chance. Dicko, who was introduced at half-time, rose in the box to meet a Helder Costa cross, but Birmingham goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak was on hand and made a super save to deny him.
But that combination would pull Wolves back into the game after 74 minutes. Costa got down the left before his low ball found Dicko in the middle, and he made no mistake this time in firing past Kuszczak.
Wolves continued to pile on the pressure for the final 15 minutes, but they couldn't find a way through Birmingham's defence to equalise.
Wolves boss Paul Lambert:
"I thought we started okay. Then Birmingham had two chances and scored two, which is our downfall at the moment. We're getting punished for mistakes.
"We dominated the second half, and sometimes they go in for you and sometimes they don't, but when you have that dominance you've got to score more than one goal.
"Carl [Ikeme] made a mistake but he's been excellent for me, then they get the break of the ball for the second. I've been in this situation before and tried anything to get a result and everything you do goes wrong. But did we deserve to lose? Probably not."
Birmingham boss Gianfranco Zola:
"Everybody was so pleased and I think we deserved it. It's strong evidence that this team is alive, they believe in what they're doing and they want to fight until the end. I'm so pleased for them.
"It's a strong victory in a derby, and considering how we played and defended with 10 men. We've had a hard time and today was a good break, but we need to continue as this was just one game and we need more like this. I'm very happy for myself, my staff and the players."
