Birmingham City 1-0 Leeds United
- Published
Jacques Maghoma's late goal for Birmingham City earned the Championship's bottom side victory over in-form Leeds United.
The midfielder smashed the ball in from close range after Jota's shot was parried by Felix Wiedwald to give Blues their first victory in eight games.
David Davis almost opened the scoring but his low shot was saved by Wiedwald.
Leeds' best chance saw Pablo Hernandez's strike palmed onto the top of the crossbar by David Stockdale.
In a match which was low on quality until the final 15 minutes, Birmingham looked to be heading for a 15th game of the campaign without scoring.
But having enjoyed better spells of possession against a below-par Leeds side, Steve Cotterill's team were finally rewarded when Congolese midfielder Maghoma followed up in the box ruthlessly.
Thomas Christiansen's Leeds had won four-straight matches before their visit to the West Midlands but failed to create any clear cut opportunities until Hernandez was sent through by Samu Saiz.
The Spaniard could not capitalise and Birmingham went on to record just their fifth win of the season.
Birmingham manager Steve Cotterill:
"The season is only halfway through and we can build on that good performance. I thought we got what we deserved for the 94 minutes. We were the better team and I am really pleased for the players.
"It was a big win and after 10 minutes play I thought it was going to be a good day for us.
"There was a massive vibe around the ground from our fans and that was very important and why we got the performance we produced."
Leeds United boss Thomas Christiansen:
"From my point of view it was a horrible game. There were not many opportunities, with each goalkeeper making one good save.
"It was a difficult game as we were aware what the opponents would do, with Sam Gallagher their target man.
"It was disappointing not to take three points. When it was goalless I thought it wouldn't be a bad result in the situation that existed."
- Published26 December 2017
- Published26 December 2017