Birmingham City came from behind to secure an impressive 3-1 victory against fellow League One promotion candidates Wrexham, as David Beckham, Tom Brady and Rob McElhenney watched on from the stands.
It was an intimidating atmosphere at the beginning of the game but Wrexham quickly silenced the St Andrew’s crowd through Jack Marriott, who was kept in the side over Paul Mullin due to his goalscoring performance against Shrewsbury.
The striker was first to the react in the penalty area, after Birmingham had failed to clear their lines from a set-piece, and lashed the ball into the bottom corner in just the third minute.
Tension was beginning to grow in the stadium following the opener, but Jay Stansfield settled the nerves after pouncing on Arthur Okonkwo’s parried save to tap home the equaliser – his first goal since securing a permanent move from Fulham this summer.
It was against the run of play but certainly spurred Chris Davies’ side on, with Willum Willumsson threatening shortly after.
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Jay Stansfield was on hand to finish as Birmingham City equalised in the first half against Wrexham
Birmingham picked up from where they had left off after the interval and their domination eventually paid off with Stansfield grabbing his second of the evening with a smart, guided header into the far corner.
Davies made two changes to his starting line-up, bringing Stansfield and Tomoki Iwata in, and it was the latter who would add a third just after the hour mark with a stunning long-range effort that even Beckham himself would have been proud of.
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Tomoki Iwata’s sensational strike on debut saw Birmingham City move into a 3-1 lead in the second half
A late red for captain Krystian Bielik, as the game boiled over, slightly tarnished the win but that will not distract fans from the fact Birmingham have catapulted themselves into the automatic promotion places with this performance, level on points with Wrexham at the summit.
Blue carpet rolled out as Hollywood arrives at St Andrew’s
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Check out the best reactions from Brady and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney as the Blues triumphed 3-1
The prospect of these two League One title contenders going head-to-head was so tantalising, even Hollywood could not resist.
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Tom Brady, who owns a stake in Birmingham City, spoke to Sky Sports ahead of the game
Birmingham chair Tom Wagner, minority owner Tom Brady and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney all caused a stir with their presence before the game, as they paraded round pitchside for any – and every – media duty that stood before them.
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David Beckham, Brady, Rob McElhenney and Gary Neville were all in attendance at St Andrew’s
After ticking arguably the greatest American football player of all time and Wrexham’s Hollywood co-owner off the list, there was only one man fans were desperate to catch a glimpse of.
The news of Beckham’s arrival swept through the crowd – if they were not part of the group swarming his entrance into the stadium – shortly before kick-off. It is fair to say it only added to the party atmosphere.
Beckham and Brady celebrate at St Andrew’s
Beckham faced Birmingham twice in his career, including an impressive performance at Old Trafford in 2002/03, which saw him record a goal and assist during a 2-0 win for Manchester United.
Stansfield repaying record transfer fee already
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:
“Eyebrows were rightly raised when Birmingham splashed upwards of £15m to bring former fan favourite Jay Stansfield back to the club, following a successful loan move to the West Midlands last season.
“However, with his well-taken equaliser to fire his side back into the game and his looping header to give them the lead, he is already beginning to show he was worth every single penny.
“Stansfield admitted in his post-match press conference that he was relishing the pressure of the price tag, with the figure Birmingham parted ways with being “out of his hands” amid the positive start.
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Birmingham City moved into a 2-1 lead over Wrexham thanks to Stansfield’s second goal of the game
“His chairman was in the stands to watch his first two goals since parting ways with the record-breaking transfer fee – and he can sleep soundly knowing it is beginning to pay off already after guiding them past their promotion rivals.”
Davies: Our best performance so far
Birmingham boss Chris Davies to Sky Sports:
“I think it was our best performance. We’ve had patches and periods in the games, but for an extended period that was the best we’ve played.
“It was a really difficult start. That’s the first goal we’ve conceded from a set-piece and we’ve been strong in that area. But in the response I didn’t see any change at all from the players. It was almost as if it didn’t happen.
“We played some good stuff and worked the ball forward well into good areas. And we were making them defend. It felt like from our point of view it was wave after wave of attack. We then came out quickly in the second half and got that second goal. It was really good.”
Parkinson: Errors cost Wrexham
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson to Sky Sports:
“I thought we were excellent at the start. We got the goal, switched the play well and contained them really well. With their first shot on target they got a goal back.
“I just said to the lads we’ve not had many setbacks in terms of conceding recently, and our reaction to it wasn’t what it needed to be. We gave it away too cheaply and gave it back too many times.
“Second half we were sat a bit too deep and didn’t engage quickly enough, and got undone by two moments of real quality.”
