Birmingham City 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers: Late own goal gives Chairboys win
- Published
Wycombe's winner came after Birmingham failed to clear the ball inside the area
Wycombe Wanderers claimed a second straight victory as they came from behind late on to beat Birmingham City thanks to Kristian Pedersen's stoppage-time own goal.
The Chairboys had slipped to the foot of the table before kick-off after learning that Sheffield Wednesday's points deduction had been halved from 12 to six points, but their dramatic fightback at St Andrew's lifted them back off the bottom.
Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth was absent for a second game in a row after undergoing back surgery on 30 October, and his side fell behind shortly before half-time when Marc Roberts headed in Jeremie Bela's in-swinging left-wing corner for the hosts.
But Wanderers created several chances in an entertaining game and were rewarded with 15 minutes to go when Fred Onyedinma's shot fortuitously deflected into the net off team-mate Scott Kashket.
Onyedinma then challenged Pedersen in the air as the visitors netted a last-gasp winner off the back of the Birmingham defender's head.
The Blues had been bidding for a third consecutive victory and had looked on course for it when defender Roberts nodded in his first goal since April 2018.
But the visitors, buoyed by the inclusion of talismanic, veteran striker Adebayo Akinfenwa in their starting side for a third straight game - all of which have ended without defeat - had almost taken the lead moments earlier.
Joe Jacobson's free-kick was superbly tipped away from the top corner by Neil Etheridge, while Bela posed Birmingham's biggest threat at the other end.
However, Wanderers - under the temporary charge of Ainsworth's assistant Richard Dobson - were the braver and more adventurous of the two teams after half-time and celebrated with delight as they eventually snatched their first away win in the second tier in stoppage time.
Birmingham boss Aitor Karanka told BBC Radio WM:
"It's difficult to understand but this kind of thing happens, especially in this league. We are realising where our position is. We are improving but we can't make that kind of mistake, especially in the second half.
"Normally, when a team wants to win the game, they're the ones that win the game. They wanted it more than us, especially in the second half.
"The second half was really poor. We have to fight in every single game and if we fight in this way, these kinds of things are going to happen again.
"It's disappointing when you lose a game you should have won."
Wycombe assistant manager Richard Dobson told BBC Three Counties Radio:
"We want to stay in this division, we're not here to make up the numbers. I don't want anybody to think that Wycombe Wanderers are the whipping boys of this division.
"We're starting to prove that we can play at this level. We've been highly competitive for the last five or six games.
"We're unfortunate not to have a few more points on the board. We want to climb up this league, we want to make a fist of it and we're certainly heading in the right direction."
Watch 13 first-round ties on iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app this weekend. Find out more here.
