Blues held to draw at home to Middlesbrough

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20 D

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11 M

56 S

Blues held to draw at home to Middlesbrough

Match report: Birmingham City 2-2 Middlesbrough

2026-09-19T17:00+01:00

A late goal from Adilson Malanda rescued a point for Middlesbrough as Birmingham City were forced to settle for a point at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Malanda scored from close range with two minutes left after James Beadle tried to claim Sebastian Berhalter's inswinging free kick.

It was harsh on Blues, who looked on course for a third league win of the season thanks to Liam Millar's equaliser and an own goal from Riley McGree.

That turnaround came after Boro had taken the lead just before half-time through Max Arfsten, while the hosts had chances of their own when Jhon Solis shot wide and Luis Vazquez had a header tipped over by Radek Vítek in what was an entertaining encounter.

Kim Hellberg's side missed the chance to go top of the Championship with victory, while Blues head into the international break on the back of just one defeat in the first eight games.

Both sides came into the contest having lost just once so far in the league, and there were chances at both ends in the early stages.

After just four minutes, Adilson Malanda lost possession on the edge of the Middlesbrough penalty area, with Jhon Solis firing a shot wide of the right-hand post.

Luis Vazquez - making his first league start of the season - had a header tipped over by Radek Vitek, while the Boro goalkeeper comfortably gathered a low effort from Liam Millar.

At the other end, the visitors looked threatening and had a golden chance to break the deadlock when Myles Peart-Harris pulled the ball back across goal for Amario Cozier-Duberry to run on to, but the winger sliced wide.

They came even close on 38 minutes when top scorer Will Lankshear controlled a cross from the right before turning and striking the base of the post, but on the stroke of half-time Kim Hellberg's men did find the target.

The breakthrough came down the right flank as Cozier-Duberry found space before twisting and turning inside past two Blues players, teeing up Max Arfsten from 12 yards out who took a touch before firing past James Beadle.

Despite that setback, Blues started the second half on the front foot and they deservedly levelled ten minutes after the restart when a strong run from Jhon Solis took him into the penalty area, but after he couldn't find room for a shot the ball broke for Liam Millar who struck low past Radek Vítek.

Four minutes later, Blues completed the turnaround. From Millar's deep corner on the left, Jay Stansfield headed the ball back across goal which caused chaos in the Boro defence, as the ball bounced around and eventually came off Vitek against Riley McGree and into the net.

Blues pushed forward in search of a third goal as Millar had an effort parried away by Vitek and Tomoki Iwata flicked a header over at the near post from Alex Cochrane's corner.

As the game edged into the closing stages, Blues looked to have done enough to claim victory but Sebastian Berhalter's free kick caused a scramble and Malanda was on hand to prod home from close range to give Boro a share of the points.

Birmingham City: James Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann, Christoph Klarer (captain), Alex Cochrane, Jhon Solis, Tomoki Iwata, Carlos Vicente (Patrick Roberts, 90), Liam Millar, Jay Stansfield (Paik Seung-Ho, 83), Luis Vazquez (Marvin Ducksch, 71).

Unused subs: Ryan Allsop, Ethan Laird, Kristoffer Lund, Lee Buchanan, Dael Fry, Menzi Mazwi.

Goals: Millar (55'), McGree own goal (59')

Middlesbrough: Radek Vitek, Callum Brittain, Ashley Phillips (Kyle Joseph, 86), Will Lankshear, Riley McGree (Sebastian Berhalter, 63), Aidan Morris, Amario Cozier-Duberry (Jeremy Sarmiento, 74), Luke Ayling (captain), Myles Peart-Harris (Tommy Conway, 63), Max Arfsten (Neto Borges, 86), Adilson Malanda.

Unused subs: Sol Brynn, Sam Byram, David Strelec, Rokas Pukstas.

Goals: Arfsten (44'), Malanda (88')

Attendance: 27,017

Post-match reaction: Chelsea Women 2-0 Birmingham City Women