Lyndon Dykes came off the bench to head a dramatic winner in the fourth minute of added time as Birmingham City beat Swansea City 1-0 at St Andrew's, extending their formidable home league unbeaten run to 28 matches.
In a breathless, end-to-end Championship contest, Swansea created the clearer chances in a wide-open first half and had a Zan Vipotnik strike controversially ruled out for offside, before Birmingham gradually took control after the interval and finally broke the visitors' resistance when Patrick Roberts set up Dykes for a trademark glancing header.
Swans shine early but contentious offside call proves pivotal
Both sides arrived in the Midlands with impressive early-season records and a determination to attack. Birmingham, back in the second tier after promotion from League One and backed by ambitious owners who have funded significant squad improvements, were returning to their St Andrew's stronghold after successive league defeats. Swansea, unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions and buoyed by a 3-2 midweek Carabao Cup comeback against Premier League Nottingham Forest, immediately showed why they had been in such good form.