Wolverhampton Wanderers picked up their second draw of the Championship season on Sunday afternoon when they were held to a point by Birmingham City at St. Andrews.
A spectacular volleyed effort by Jay Stansfield and a horrendous own goal from Jackson Tchatchoua meant that the Old Gold came away from the match without the three points, despite twice taking the lead.
Cesar Peixoto’s team are now ninth in the Championship table after winning two, drawing two, and losing one of their opening five matches in the second tier.
He will be looking for more consistency from his squad to mount a genuine push for an instant promotion back to the Premier League, after they failed to grab the win against the Blues.
How Birmingham vs Wolves unfolded
It only took three minutes for the Old Gold to take the lead in the match when Raul Jimenez teed up Rodrigo Gomes to fire the ball across the box for Fer Lopez to convert from close range.
Central midfielder Andre was caught snoozing, though, when he failed to track the run of Stansfield in the 22nd minute, resulting in the forward scoring a screamer on the volley.
Ladislav Krejci’s thunderous header nine minutes later put the away team straight back in front, as he got ahead of his man to thump the ball into the back of the net.
Stat | Birmingham | Wolves |
|---|---|---|
Possession | 53% | 47% |
Shots | 15 | 9 |
xG | 1.47 | 2.03 |
Big chances | 2 | 4 |
Shots on target | 6 | 4 |
Hit woodwork | 1 | 1 |
Just five minutes after the Czechia international put Wolves 2-1 up, Tchatchoua attempted to play a back pass to Jose Sa and volleyed the ball straight past his goalkeeper and into the back of his own net.
Adam Armstrong then had the best chance to win the match for Wolves late on when the ball was squared to him in the middle of the box and he blazed his shot way over the bar unmarked with only James Beadle to beat.
The best player on the pitch in Birmingham’s draw with Wolves
Overall, it was one of the best games, if not the best, of the Championship season so far and there were plenty of impressive players on the pitch for both teams.
The best player on the park, though, was attacking midfielder Fer Lopez, who was incredibly unfortunate not to help his team to all three points against Birmingham.
Whilst the likes of Stansfield, who scored a stunning goal, Patrick Roberts, and Jose Sa also impressed, it was the Spanish playmaker who stole the show with his performance.
He was, of course, the player who kicked off the madness by backing up the play and making a late run into the box to score from close range in the third minute.
The left-footed star, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Celta Vigo, has dropped down to the Championship with Wolves and looks a cut above the level, as Ruben Neves once did for the club.
It was his slotted pass across to Armstrong that should have resulted in the winning goal of the game, but instead left the Spaniard on the floor in disbelief that his teammate failed to take his chance.
Vs Birmingham | Fer Lopez |
|---|---|
Minutes | 90 |
Shots | 3 |
Goals | 1 |
Key passes | 3 |
Big chances created | 1 |
Assists | 0 |
Fouls won | 4 |
Duels won | 8/14 |
He was the best player on the park because of his overall influence on the game, scoring a goal, creating the best chance of the match, and winning fouls to take the pressure off his team.
Lopez has now scored three goals, created ten chances, created two ‘big chances’, and registered two assists in only five appearances in the Championship, showing incredible quality and consistency as an attacking midfielder.
Back in the 2017/18 Championship campaign, Neves proved himself to be a cut above the level with six goals and six ‘big chances’ created from central midfield as Wolves won the league.
Lopez is now looking to follow in his footsteps by being the outstanding player in the division to help the Old Gold to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
On the evidence of the first five matches of the campaign, the 22-year-old starlet is well on his way to becoming the Championship’s next version of Neves.
