Birmingham 3-1 Wrexham (Sep 16, 2024) Sport Evaluation - ESPN

BIRMINGHAM, England — Tom Brady took the bragging rights over Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds within the recreation dubbed the “Hollywood Derby” as Birmingham City ended Wrexham’s unbeaten begin to life in League One with a commanding 3-1 victory at St Andrew’s on Monday night.

The match performed out in entrance of a crowd together with NFL legend Brady, Hollywood star McElhenney and ex-England soccer captain David Beckham, nevertheless it was Birmingham’s club-record signing Jay Stansfield who was the star act as he scored twice to assist repay a few of the £15 million the membership spent on him on deadline day — the most important in League One historical past and a press release of intent from the extremely formidable Blues.

Stansfield is aware of this membership effectively, having spent final season on mortgage right here, and his two targets, alongside an excellent strike from Tomoki Iwata, gave Birmingham the win towards Wrexham, whose sole objective got here after simply two minutes from Jack Marriott.

The one sore level for the hosts was a late crimson card for his or her skipper Krystian Bielik, who bought his first yellow within the 81st minute for his position in a mass-brawl from each side, after which picked up a second yellow 5 minutes later for an terrible deal with on Andy Cannon.

The build-up to this eagerly anticipated match was dominated by two separate narratives: the battle of two promotion hopefuls, each beforehand undefeated in League One, and the noise across the match, generated by well-known buyers on each side.

There was curiosity from the hosts to try to take this match to the USA, however as an alternative the third-tier English soccer recreation out in entrance of a jampacked St Andrew’s crowd of 27,980 which included the varied A-listers.

For the guests, Wrexham co-owner and It is At all times Sunny in Philadelphia creator McElhenney jetted in straight from the Emmy’s and FaceTimed in his fellow investor and Deadpool star Reynolds earlier than kickoff. For the hosts, all the eye was on Brady, who holds a 3.3% stake in Birmingham and flew in for the match. Beckham was additionally in attendance, sitting subsequent to Brady within the stands.

There was no Eli Manning, who was drafted in by Wrexham as a supporter within the build-up to Monday’s match, reminding Brady of how he helped steer his New York Giants to 2 Tremendous Bowl triumphs over Brady’s New England Patriots in 2008 and 2012.

Wrexham got here into it high of League One with 13 factors — due to 4 wins and a draw this season — with Birmingham sixth, having performed a recreation fewer however with three wins and a draw. Birmingham made six adjustments, together with beginning membership and League One-record signing Stansfield up entrance.

For the guests, Wrexham had been unchanged from their final run out within the league as they defeated Shrewsbury 3-0 again on Sept. 7. And it was the guests who regarded much more measured within the opening exchanges, as they grabbed the lead after simply two minutes by Marriott, who completed from shut vary after Blues goalkeeper Bailey Peacock Farrell failed to assert a nook.

Birmingham had an important likelihood 10 minutes later to equalise by Seung-Ho Paik, however he shot extensive from 10 yards out after a neat Birmingham set piece routine opened Wrexham’s defence.

From there, it was Birmingham who took cost of the match and grabbed their equaliser within the twenty second minute as Wrexham keeper Arthur Okonkwo might solely parry Alfie Might’s long-range effort into Stansfield’s path as he tapped house to faucet house on his homecoming after a profitable mortgage spell on the Blues final time period.

It was attritional for the remainder of the half, Birmingham having fun with the majority of attacking possession with Might and Stansfield linking up effectively as Wrexham’s defence was steadfast and Eoghan O’Connell a rock within the center.

The hosts saved their foot on the throttle within the second half, they usually took a 2-1 lead within the 51st minute as Stansfield headed house brilliantly off a pinpoint Alex Cochrane cross. That gave Birmingham simply the encouragement they wanted they usually added a beautiful third within the 59th minute due to Iwata’s beautifully-judged long-range effort.

Wrexham emptied the bench and introduced on the likes of Paul Mullin and Steven Fletcher, however they could not get a foothold and frustrations boiled over within the 81st minute as Mullin’s disagreement with Keshi Anderson triggered an all-in brawl from each side, leading to James McLean, Anderson, Mullin, Cannon and Bielik all getting booked.

Birmingham skipper Bielik would final simply 5 minutes extra, as he obtained a second yellow card for a rash problem on Cannon. Wrexham piled on the strain within the last moments, however Birmingham and their 10 males noticed the match out to place down a marker to the remainder of the league.