Birmingham 3-1 Wrexham: Stansfield brace hands hosts Hollywood derby bragging rights

Jay Stansfield struck either side of half-time to give 10-man Birimingham a huge 3-1 victory over fellow League One promotion hopefuls Wrexham on Monday.

A game dubbed the ‘Hollywood derby’ was given a blockbuster start when Jack Marriot smashed home the opening goal for the visitors with just two minutes on the clock.

But Birmingham’s £10million recruit Stansfield soon levelled the scores, being the first to react to Alfie May’s effort that was parried into his path by Arthur Okonkwo.

The hosts then took hold of the encounter as May and Taylor Gardner-Hickman went close, but the game entered the break finely poised at St. Andrew’s.

However, Blues’ dominance prevailed seven minutes after the restart with Stansfield’s header picking out the far corner following Alex Cochrane’s pinpoint cross.

And the points were sealed just before the hour-mark in stunning fashion as Tomoki Iwata’s strike from distance smashed in off the post, much to the delight of minority owner Tom Brady in the stands.

A fiesty conclusion to proceedings saw Chris Davies’ side end the game with a man less after Krystian Bielik was shown a second yellow card for a late tackle on Andrew Cannon, but Birmingham were able to hold on for the win.

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Data Debrief: The American dream

Much was made of Birmingham’s approach to the transfer window after spending £25m in their attempts to return the Championship at the first time of asking, but their biggest investment proved his worth on Monday.

Stansfield notched his first two goals for the club since his permanent switch from Fulham, but the Blues striker also played a starring role in the encounter.

He registered an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.12 to Birmingham’s 1.3 total, while he also produced more shots on target (three) and touches in the opposition box (six) than any other player.