Birmingham City 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion

Glenn Murray has now scored eight goals in his last eight Championship matches for Brighton

Gianfranco Zola's first match in charge of Birmingham City ended in defeat after Brighton & Hove Albion came from behind to close the gap on Championship leaders Newcastle United to one point.

Zola, appointed on Wednesday after the sacking of Gary Rowett, had looked destined for a winning start when Lukas Jutkiewicz headed Birmingham in front.

But Anthony Knockaert volleyed home to make it 1-1 with eight minutes left.

And Glenn Murray's header completed the comeback deep into stoppage time.

• Relive Brighton's win at Birmingham

The 33-year-old forward met Knockaert's pinpoint corner to head beyond Tomasz Kuszczak for his 14th goal of the season and help the second-placed Seagulls open an eight-point gap on Reading in third.

It seemed harsh on Birmingham, who had largely shaded a contest often low on quality and action in either final third, but one which turned dramatically after Knockaert levelled in the final 10 minutes.

Zola's tenure almost got off to the perfect start when Maikel Kieftenbeld struck the post inside the opening 40 seconds at St Andrew's.

And, after Jutkiewicz's superb, looping header had put Blues in front after half-time, the former Burnley forward nearly made it 2-0 when his sharp turn and shot was only kept out by a smart save from David Stockdale.

But the visitors soon took control once Knockaert had expertly equalised from inside the area - and the pressure eventually culminated in Murray's header in to the bottom corner from their final attack.

Birmingham remain eighth in the Championship table, three points off Sheffield Wednesday in sixth.

Birmingham City manager Gianfranco Zola told BBC WM:

"In the last few minutes we lost a bit of physical presence. It's cruel. The players didn't deserve that. But this is football, you have to accept the way it is.

"They never threatened us in open play, which is down to the hard work of the players.

"I knew it was going to be tough and the players performed in a fantastic way."

Brighton manager Chris Hughton:

"Credit to my players. Sometimes when you are winning 1-0 and the opposition come back to 1-1 you see the game out. But there was real momentum on the part of my players to get the winner.

"It was a really tough game. I thought Birmingham were good in periods but we were not at our best as it was a game of minimal chances.

"We have quality and a great spirit in the team and we continually tell what it takes to win away from home.