Birmingham City stunned Championship leaders Coventry City with a 3-2 victory in a freezing Midlands derby, ending their seven-game winless run and easing the pressure on head coach Chris Davies. Marvin Ducksch struck in each half and on-loan Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas opened his account for the club as the hosts repeatedly seized on defensive lapses from the league leaders.
Josh Eccles and Ellis Simms twice dragged Frank Lampard's side level in a breathless contest, but Coventry could not find a third response and finished with 10 men after Bobby Thomas was sent off in stoppage time for lashing out at Phil Neumann. The Sky Blues remain top of the Championship despite a run of just two wins in eight games, while Birmingham's combination of incisive attacking and some help from slack defending delivered their most significant result of the season so far.
Explosive Start Sets Tone For Freezing Derby
The tone was set inside six minutes by a flowing Birmingham move that began deep in their own half. Lewis Koumas laid the ball back to Seung-Ho Paik, the South Korea international released debutant left-back Kai Wagner down the flank, and the German, signed from Philadelphia Union only a day earlier, bent a superb cross into the area for Ducksch to guide a cushioned volley beyond Carl Rushworth.