Birmingham City vs Brentford. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's StadiumAttendance20,379.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at St Andrew's
Saturday 15 February 2020 19:24, UK
Brentford's Sky Bet Championship promotion charge was checked by resurgent Birmingham in a 1-1 draw at St. Andrew's.
The Bees earned a point thanks to Ethan Pinnock's first goal for the club to cancel out Lukas Jutkiewicz's 12th goal of the season for Blues.
The draw extended Birmingham's unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions.
Blues dominated the early stages and teen sensation Jude Bellingham came close to giving them a sixth-minute lead.
The 16-year-old, a £30million target for Chelsea and Manchester United, cut inside and his 20-yard curler beat the dive of David Raya and rebounded off the post.
Jeremie Bela flashed a long-range effort inches wide before Jutkiewicz broke the deadlock after 13 minutes.
Gary Gardner's low cross was dummied by former Brentford striker Scott Hogan at the near post and Jutkiewicz supplied a neat finish.
But Brentford needed only four minutes to level through Pinnock's first goal for the club.
Emiliano Marcondes floated in a deep corner and nobody picked up the centre-back who headed in at the far post.
Blues hit back and Raya tipped away Marc Roberts' header but the hosts needed a fine save from Lee Camp to deny Ollie Watkins his 21st goal of the campaign.
Watkins ran onto a through ball from Marcondes but saw his shot bravely blocked by the ever alert Camp who raced out to narrow the angle.
Brentford looked to turn the screw in the final stages but Camp again excelled to keep out Marcondes' fierce effort.
Pinnock was almost the villain in the closing minutes when he appeared to handle in the box but referee Stephen Martin was unmoved.
Birmingham's Pep Clotet: "We are doing this transition and progression into being stronger with the ball and more dominant. I think in the first 25, 30 minutes we were really dominant, with good combinations and good attacking football.
"We were very strong today; we didn't have to defend any counterattack from Brentford. This means that the team is not only developing offensively, but also takes care of the important things that need to be done to avoid getting yourselves into any problems, like earlier in the season."
Brentford's Thomas Frank: "We should have won but we need to take the chances we had and be more cool in the decisive moments.
"It was a tough match in difficult circumstances, with wind, rain and a bad pitch but it was equal for both teams."
