Phil Neumann's Double Sinks Wrexham as Birmingham Claims Victory
Phil Neumann does not score many. He had never managed more than two in a season. At the Racecourse Ground, he reached that mark in one night – and left Wrexham staring at a fourth straight game without a win.
The Birmingham centre-back struck in each half to seal a 2-1 victory, a sharp, disciplined response from Chris Davies’ side after their 6-1 humiliation at Brentford in the Carabao Cup. Callum Doyle briefly dragged Wrexham level, but the Championship newcomers never fully shook off a flat, tentative first half that infuriated Phil Parkinson.
Birmingham take control, Wrexham barely land a punch
From the first whistle, Birmingham looked like a team with a point to prove. They pressed high, snapped into tackles and carved out chances that should have put the game to bed long before the interval.
On seven minutes, August Priske looked certain to score when a close-range header opened up in front of him. Ollie Rathbone threw himself back on the line and somehow kept it out. A warning for Wrexham. It went unheeded.
Six minutes later, the pressure told. Alex Cochrane swung in an inswinging corner to the far post, Neumann attacked it and forced his header over the line from close range. Simple, direct, and fully deserved.
Birmingham did not ease off. Carlos Vicente cut the ball back to Jay Stansfield on 23 minutes after an overload down the right. Stansfield, in space, only had to hit the target. Instead, he lashed over, a huge miss that left Wrexham clinging on.
Wrexham’s response? Almost nothing. They mustered just 0.22 xG before the break, a number that told the story of a side lacking conviction and ideas. Their only real moment came on 37 minutes when Danny Imray drove in from the right, his deflected effort forcing James Beadle into a sharp, diving save.
By half-time, Birmingham should have been out of sight. Wrexham were fortunate to be only one down – and Parkinson knew it.
Doyle sparks life, Neumann kills the comeback
Whatever was said in the home dressing room worked, at least for a spell. Wrexham emerged after the restart with more bite, more aggression, and finally some quality in the final third.
On 54 minutes, Lewis O’Brien delivered the moment they had been searching for. His cross dipped wickedly into the box, and Doyle attacked it, helping the ball past Beadle to haul Wrexham level. The Racecourse stirred. The game, at last, felt like a contest.
Momentum appeared to swing. Wrexham pressed higher, tackles flew in, Birmingham were pushed back. Then they blinked.
Nine minutes after the equaliser, Wrexham’s old Achilles’ heel – defending the box – was exposed again. Priske launched a long throw from the right. The first delivery was cleared, but only half-heartedly. He recycled the ball, swung it back in, and Neumann glanced a header beyond Anthony Patterson for his second of the night.
Soft. Avoidable. Exactly the type of goal that sends a manager through the roof.
Parkinson did not hide his anger afterwards, calling them “two of the softest goals” his side have conceded in his entire time at the club, including the National League years. His frustration was sharpened by the timing: Wrexham had just dragged themselves back into the game and then switched off.
Late surge, no reward
Chasing the game again, Wrexham finally played with the urgency their situation demanded. The tempo rose, the tackles bit, and Birmingham were forced to dig in.
On 77 minutes, they almost cracked. Kieffer Moore met a cross with a firm header that Beadle failed to hold. The ball spilled loose, the goal gaped, and only some fearless defending from Christoph Klarer stopped a Wrexham player turning it in. It felt like the moment – and it passed.
The hosts kept pushing, but Birmingham, this time, refused to fold. They looked exactly what Davies demanded: a team. Compact, organised, and fully committed after a week in which their character had been questioned.
“It was a really good night for us,” the Birmingham boss said. “We looked like a real team, and we had to be to come to a place like Wrexham and play a really solid, really good side, especially at home. It’s a big, big win.”
Parkinson’s warning and the looming deadline
Parkinson, by contrast, cut a bruised figure. He lamented a first half where Wrexham “lacked conviction”, and a performance where too many players “looked around the pitch for someone else to go and make it happen, rather than taking responsibility as individuals”.
He was blunt about the mentality, too. “You cannot feel sorry for yourself because no one else is going to help you, you can only help yourself,” he said, vowing that his side must “come out fighting at Millwall”.
That fight might yet be bolstered from outside. With the transfer deadline looming, the debate over whether Wrexham need more help at the back is growing louder. On Sky Sports, Jobi McAnuff pointed to the lack of a dominant centre-half, the kind of presence that underpinned their rise through the leagues.
He suggested nights like this can jolt a hierarchy into action. Parkinson has been well backed by the ownership group, and there is belief internally that there is enough in the squad. But results like these ask awkward questions.
Four games gone, no wins, soft goals conceded, and a trip to Millwall on the horizon. Does this group have the answers from within, or will Wrexham’s next big moment come not on the pitch, but in the final days of the window?
