Birmingham City vs Sheffield Wednesday. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's StadiumAttendance20,941.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew's on Saturday | Wayne Rooney earns first Blues win as they hit back for victory.
Saturday 25 November 2023 18:44, UK
Wayne Rooney collected his first win as Birmingham manager after a 2-1 comeback win against the Sky Bet Championship's bottom club Sheffield Wednesday at St Andrew's.
Substitute Jordan James's grabbed the 82nd-minute winner after Juninho Bacuna's 48th-minute equaliser cancelled out George Byers's opener four minutes earlier.
Victory was Rooney's first win in English football since April last year when his Derby side won 2-0 at Blackpool, while new Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has now lost five of his first six games.
Birmingham bounced back after the break after Wednesday had been the better side in the first half.
Wednesday started better and the lively Mallik Wilks dispossessed goalkeeper John Ruddy before firing just wide.
The hosts' first chance came when Bacuna unleashed a 25-yard drive that was deflected inches off target by Bambo Diaby.
But they struggled to create opportunities for the rest of the half as Wednesday pinned them back.
Birmingham seemed to be their own worst enemies and they conceded three consecutive corners, Lee Buchanan heading behind the second one after Ruddy was unable to get a firm hand to the ball.
Birmingham's hearts were in their mouths when referee Rebecca Welch put her whistle to her lips after Josh Windass fell in the penalty area as Ethan Laird closed him down.
But, instead of blowing for a penalty, she booked the forward for diving, replays confirming the simulation.
Wednesday continued to threaten and Windass missed their best chance to date when he side-footed wide from Barry Bannan's cross.
Birmingham were frustrated by two Wednesday challenges which resulted in bookings - Wilks for body-checking Ethan Laird after he was nutmegged then Bannan for bringing down Siriki Dembele.
The goal Wednesday had been threatening came in the 44th minute when Windass's superb curling free-kick hit the post and Byers tapped home the rebound for his first since February.
But the visitors' lead lasted just three minutes before Bacuna equalised with a half volley from 22 yards after Wednesday failed to clear Koji Miyoshi's corner, with Dominic Iorfa and Akin Famewo getting faint touches.
Birmingham improved after the restart and Jay Stansfield's angled drive was deflected wide off Diaby, before Buchanan curled his shot over the bar.
Blues remained on top and Dembele's half volley brushed the side-netting.
Nothing had been seen of Wednesday's attack until the hour until Marvin Johnson's shot on the turn, but the substitute's effort sailed straight at Ruddy.
But James turned into something of a super-sub when he scored the winner just four minutes after replacing Bacuna.
The Wales international rounded goalkeeper Cameron Dawson to tap home the winner when his first shot had been blocked following Stansfield's cross.
Birmingham's Wayne Rooney:
"We can't get caught up with the fans' reaction - everyone has opinions and we don't want to go in 1-0 down but when you're on the pitch you've got to keep your focus and concentration.
"Forget the fans - my reaction at half-time wasn't good to the players - that's why my voice has gone!
"We didn't play with the energy I wanted us to play with in the first half and I made the players aware of that but in the second half we were a lot better.
"I wasn't very pleased with the first half. I thought Sheffield Wednesday pressed really well without the ball but we have to show more composure on the ball because we were too happy to go back to John Ruddy and allow him to make decisions.
"I've seen an improvement week by week so if that first half was four weeks ago, I could have understood it, but it was unrecognisable to what we've been doing during the international break."
Sheffield Wednesday's Danny Rohl:
"There are reasons why we're at the bottom of the table, but when I see the improvement of my team and how hard they're working, they deserved to go in at half-time with a lead of maybe two or three nil.
"I could push the (rewind) button from five of the last six games. We deserved more. There has just been the one game against Rotherham where we took the points but today we showed nearly what we can do in this league.
"I don't think we played like a team at the bottom, but we played like a team in the middle of the table.
"It's hard, but I have a clear idea of what I want to do. It wasn't enough to take something and it was disappointing when you get this team playing at such a high level and don't get something."
