EFL Championship REVIEW 28 Aug 2026: Phil Neumann scores both as Birmingham answer their six-goal Tuesday at the Racecourse

Birmingham City won 2-1 at Wrexham on Friday night, and both goals were Phil Neumann's. The first came on 13 minutes from an Alexander Cochrane assist, six minutes after Cochrane had been booked. Wrexham levelled on 54 through Callum Doyle, set up by Lewis O'Brien, and Neumann settled it on 63 with an assist from August Priske. Patrick Roberts had come on at half-time for Birmingham, and Bright Osayi-Samuel was booked on 50.

Phil Parkinson emptied his bench in one go just after the hour, sending on Sam Smith, Josh Windass, Ryan Longman and Issa Kabore together on 71 minutes, with Bailey Cadamarteri following on 79 and picking up a booking in the third minute of stoppage time. Kabore had spent last season on loan at the Racecourse and made 32 appearances with eight assists before Wrexham moved to sign him permanently. Birmingham changed later and in pieces: Paik Seung-Ho on 74, Luis Vazquez on 82, Dael Fry and Ethan Laird on 90.

The visitors arrived from the worst evening either club has had this season, a 6-1 home defeat by Brentford in the second round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, after which Chris Davies told supporters he was sorry and took what he called ultimate responsibility. Six changes had been made for that tie, and the side that came to north Wales was closer to the one that drew 2-2 at Bristol City. Wrexham, meanwhile, are still without a league win, having drawn 1-1 with Watford.

The two clubs bring very different histories to this division. Wrexham's is the Welsh Cup, won a record 23 times, a Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final in 1976 and the afternoon in January 1992 when, having finished bottom of the Football League the previous season, they knocked the holders Arsenal out of the FA Cup. Birmingham's is two League Cups, in 1962/63 and against Arsenal in 2010/11, two lost FA Cup finals in 1930/31 and 1955/56, and an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final reached without ever having won a league title. Both came up from League One in 2024/25, Birmingham as champions and Wrexham as runners-up.