BIRMINGHAM, England — Tom Brady took the bragging rights over Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds within the sport 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 signee Jay Stansfield who was the star act. He scored twice to assist validate the £15 million the membership spent on him on deadline day — the biggest signing in League One historical past and an announcement of intent from the bold Blues.
Stansfield is aware of this membership effectively, having spent final season there on mortgage, and his two targets, alongside an excellent strike from Tomoki Iwata, gave Birmingham the win towards Wrexham, whose sole objective got here from Jack Marriott after simply two minutes.
The one sore level for the hosts was a late crimson card for skipper Krystian Bielik, who received his first yellow within the 81st minute for his position in a mass brawl from either side, after which picked up a second yellow 5 minutes later for a tough sort out on Andy Cannon.
The buildup 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 showdown generated by well-known traders on either side.
There was curiosity from the hosts to attempt to take this match to america, however as an alternative the third-tier English soccer sport performed 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 All the time Sunny in Philadelphia” creator McElhenney jetted in straight from the Emmy Awards and FaceTimed in fellow investor 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 introduced in by Wrexham as a supporter within the buildup to Monday’s match, reminding Brady of how the previous New York Large steered his staff to Tremendous Bowl triumphs over Brady’s New England Patriots in 2008 and 2012.
Wrexham got here into the match high of League One with 13 factors — due to 4 wins and a draw this season — with Birmingham sixth, having performed a sport fewer however with three wins and a draw. Birmingham made six adjustments, together with beginning Stansfield upfront.
The guests have been unchanged from their final run-out within the league, after they defeated Shrewsbury 3-0 on Sept. 7. And it was the guests who appeared much more measured within the opening exchanges, as they grabbed the lead after simply two minutes by way of Marriott, who completed from shut vary after Blues goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell failed to assert a nook.
The hosts had an awesome probability 10 minutes later to equalise by way of Seung-Ho Paik, however he shot huge 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 dwelling to faucet dwelling 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, taking a 2-1 lead within the 51st minute as Stansfield headed dwelling brilliantly off a pinpoint Alex Cochrane cross. That gave Birmingham simply the encouragement they wanted they usually added a 3rd within the 59th minute due to Iwata’s fantastically 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 either side, leading to James McClean, Anderson, Mullin, Cannon and Bielik all getting booked.
Bielik’s second yellow got here on a rash problem on Cannon. Wrexham piled on the stress 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.
