Birmingham City 1-1 Derby County: Blues battle back for point as both sides finish with 10 players
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Derby County at St Andrew's on Boxing Day; Jack Robinson earns a point for the Blues as both sides finish with 10 players.
Friday 26 December 2025 16:26, UK
Jack Robinson rescued a point for Birmingham in a bad-tempered 1-1 draw against Derby which saw both teams finish with 10 men.
The veteran defender netted his first goal for the club from close range in the 64th minute to cancel out Patrick Agyemang's first-half header.
The Rams were reduced in numbers just before the interval when Joe Ward was dismissed for picking up two bookings in quick succession.
That left the visitors on the back foot but Birmingham also saw a man dismissed during stoppage time when home skipper Christoph Klarer was sent off following a reckless challenge on substitute Ebou Adams.
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Despite being the season of goodwill, the match was a niggly affair from the start with Derby boss John Eustace, who himself was booked for overstepping the mark with the fourth official, returning to face the club he managed before being replaced by Wayne Rooney.
Birmingham had started brightly and were unlucky not to take a fifth-minute lead when Demarai Gray worked himself to the wrong side of Ward but his finish hit the foot of the post.
The next contribution by the Derby defender was more positive, however. His right-wing cross found the head of Agyemang, but he could only direct his effort wide of the target.
Agyemang was, however, in the right place in the 27th minute to give the visitors the lead.
It came via a long punt up field by Ward to Rhian Brewster, who used his pace to outstrip Robinson before lofting the ball into the area where Agyemang nodded past James Beadle.
Moments later, Ward picked up the first of his two cautions for delaying the restart.
And then Roberts, who looked Birmingham's most attacking threat, bore down on the Rams' goal only for Ward to clip his heels seven minutes before the break.
Referee Ben Toner produced his second yellow in a matter of moments to dismiss Ward.
Home boss Chris Davies made a double substitution just before the hour in an effort to spark a revival and was rewarded in the 64th minute when Birmingham drew level.
Marc Leonard's free-kick was defended by Matt Clarke and Agyemang at the far post but both managed to get in each other's way, leaving Robinson to force the ball past Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
Birmingham then threw caution to the wind in an attempt to force a winner and came close only for Zetterstrom to pull off a smart stop from Paik Seung-Ho's snapshot from the edge of the area.
And in the dying seconds the woodwork came to Derby's aid when Robinson's header crashed into the crossbar.
The result marked Birmingham's fifth game without a win since their 2-1 defeat of Watford at the beginning of December, while the Rams stretched their unbeaten run to four.
The managers
Birmingham's Chris Davies:
"I think I'm sitting here frustrated we haven't got the three points. I think we did enough to win the match, but it wasn't to be.
"I really liked a lot of our play. I thought we were very good against a team that doesn't give much away.
"I think they've had one shot on goal. It was a really sloppy one conceded out of nothing after they've had a big clearance up the pitch.
"Obviously, we got the goal and it was a case of whether we could set the second. It wasn't to be but it wasn't for the want of trying."
Derby's John Eustace:
"I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed we didn't win the game. Obviously, they've looked dangerous but then we adjusted a couple of things and we looked very comfortable.
"Patrick has scored a fantastic goal and they had a lot of possession. Birmingham are an excellent team with the ball so we had to respect that.
"They were putting a lot of crosses into our box but the way we defended them was very good.
"I'm really disappointed in the way we conceded from a free-kick. We got that set up wrong and also, it's handball. I thought everyone could see that."
