Swansea 3-4 Birmingham City: Auston Trusty's header wins it for Blues in injury time
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On-loan Arsenal defender Auston Trusty has now scored four goals for Birmingham City this season
Birmingham City ended their run of five straight Championship defeats as Auston Trusty's 97th-minute header won a remarkable 4-3 thriller at Swansea.
Blues led through Scott Hogan's penalty before goals by Joel Piroe and Liam Cullen put Swansea City in front.
Tahith Chong equalised for Blues before keeper John Ruddy's error allowed Piroe to add a second but Lukas Jutkiewicz's brave diving header levelled it again.
Blues then found a winner when Trusty headed home Hannibal Mejbri's corner.
The late drama at the Swansea.com Stadium capped a frenetic afternoon in south Wales as John Eustace's Blues won a contest they seemed for long periods destined to lose.
The injury-time defeat, which sent the hosts tumbling to 13th in the Championship, capped a miserable few days for Swansea.
Swans boss Russell Martin had no new faces in his squad after the club opted not to make a single signing in January, prompting Martin to openly admit he was "disappointed and frustrated."
Martin had wanted to sign an attacker and a goalkeeper, with his first choice goalkeeper Steven Benda out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Joel Piroe's brace against Birmingham took his tally to 12 for the season
Deputy goalkeeper Andy Fisher was therefore given a first league start since August - and it was his mistake that led to Blues going ahead on 13 minutes when he rashly charged out of his goal and fouled on-loan Reda Khadra, allowing Hogan to slot home the penalty.
Hogan's 10th goal of the season was his first since returning from injury, almost three months on from his most recent goal for Blues, in the 2-2 draw with Swansea at St Andrew's on 8 November.
The frustration for Swansea was compounded by the fact they should have led before they fell behind, having missed two huge opportunities in the opening five minutes when both Piroe and Liam Cullen were denied by Ruddy with one-on-one chances.
Piroe made amends on 23 minutes when he turned sharply after the ball ricocheted towards him and he powered a precise finish into the bottom corner.
Piroe then turned provider after a fine Swansea move when he crossed to present Cullen with a close-range tap-in.
Having enjoyed 81% first half possession, Swansea continually managed to split the Birmingham defence as Olivier Ntcham headed just over and Oli Cooper was denied by another excellent Ruddy save.
Birmingham City had not scored four goals or more on the road since the 5-0 win at Luton in August 2021
Birmingham were exceptionally lucky not to be further than 2-1 behind - but they made Swansea pay for their profligacy when Juninho Bacuna's pass split the home defence to send Chong racing clear and he finished smartly for his third goal of the season.
Birmingham's fragility was underlined as they held onto parity for only three minutes. Ruddy completely miskicked as he tried to clear Ben Cabango's long ball, straight to Piroe, who ran on to clinically slide home his 12th goal of the season.
The visitors improved after the break, against a Swansea side who have often struggled to hold onto a lead, as Mejbri and Maxime Coline both fired over.
Swansea's cause was not helped when a late injury meant they finished the game with 10 men - and Birmingham took advantage right on 90 minutes when Jutkiewicz met Maxime Colin's right-wing cross with a low near-post header which deflected past Fisher.
Birmingham sensed a winner and it finally arrived when Hogan's effort was turned wide for a left-wing corner, from which Trusty headed home Mejbri's near-post delivery in front of the delighted away supporters to lift Blues up to 18th, eight points clear of safety.
Who's next?
Birmingham City's next test is a home derby on Friday night against local rivals West Bromwich Albion, while Swansea's next game is the following day's trip to second-placed Sheffield United.
Birmingham City boss John Eustace told BBC Radio WM:
"I always said there would be some ups and downs this season, but the one thing we have in that dressing room is fighting spirit.
"We could so easily have thrown the towel in after that third goal went in. But we fought back to get the equaliser. Then we thought we can go and win it. And I'm so proud of the boys - and the supporters too, as they stayed with us.
"It showed the great character of the group that we stuck together and stayed in the game. And, in the second half, we were excellent. That's what football is all about, making changes and learning from mistakes.
"I asked the players to do something that we hadn't really prepared properly to do. In the dressing room at half-time I put my hand up and said 'I got that wrong boys'. But we knew if we could stay in the game we would always have a chance. Tactically, in the second half, we got it spot on."
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