It has been dubbed the Hollywood derby, but there wasn’t much glitz or glamour about Birmingham City’s 2-1 win at Wrexham.

Both sides had yet to record a Championship victory and both needed one. It was more a war of attrition, one that Birmingham won.

Birmingham made life difficult for themselves by missing two glaring first half chances but two goals from set pieces from centre half Phil Neumann proved to be the difference.

None of either club’s famous US owners — Wrexham’s thespian duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, or Birmingham’s chief advisor Tom Brady — were present, but a rivalry that was born in League One still lives on in what was a combative encounter.

Richard Sutcliffe and Rob Tanner dissect the latest instalment of a burgeoning rivalry.

No stars in the stands, but there was one on the bench

There were no star names in the stands on Friday as Ryan Reynolds, Rob Mac and Tom Brady all followed events from afar on TV but there was no doubt who the Wrexham fans were most pleased to see on Friday night.

Issa Kabore, signed the day before from Manchester City on a three-year contract, returned to a hero’s welcome when brought off the bench with 20 minutes remaining.
The heartfelt cheers were testament to his impact when spending last season on loan at The Racecourse Ground, his eight assists comfortably the highest by a Wrexham player in 2025-26.

This despite a lengthy spell out injured and spending several weeks away with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Kabore’s return was a crumb of comfort on an otherwise hugely disappointing night, as Birmingham made it three wins and two draws from five meetings between the two clubs in the Hollywood era.

The 25-year-old certainly showed enough to justify the rapturous reception that met his arrival from the bench.

On a night when Wrexham’s resorted far too often to pumping aimless balls forward, Kabore’s pace and direct running were like a breath of fresh air.

His first cross came within a whisker of creating an equaliser that, on the balance of play, would have been undeserved with a pinpoint cross picking out Kieffer Moore at the back post.

The Wales international then picked out Sam Smith, who nudged the ball goalwards but not with sufficient force to cross the line.

Kabore’s team-mates could also have taken a leaf out of his defensive book, not least how he prevented Carlos Vicente from making it 3-1 late on with what would have been a tap in but for the Wrexham man’s tenacity.

Richard Sutcliffe

Are Wrexham leaving their transfer business too late?

Since returning to the EFL fold in 2023, Wrexham have developed a taste for leaving it late in the summer transfer window.

No less than six signings have been made on deadline day, half of which came a year ago when Issa Kabore, Dominic Hyam and Ben Sheaf came through the door.

All three proved worth the wait, as was the case in 2023 when late arrivals Arthur Okonkwo and George Evans helped Wrexham recover from a difficult start to life back in League Two to go on and clinch promotion.

With the countdown now on to Tuesday’s 11pm deadline, what chances the Welsh club again going right to the wire again?

Phil Parkinson still wants a new centre-half and a number 10, and it was easy to see why on the evidence of this latest meeting with Birmingham.

Not only were the home defence led such a merry dance by a lively Birmingham forward line that this really should have been over as a contest by half-time.

But, Wrexham also looked ponderous in attack, particularly during those one-sided opening 45 minutes. Neither Nathan Broadhead nor Ollie Rathbone have had great starts to the season and Friday night just brought more of the same. Club record signing Broadhead, in particular, looked out of sorts, underlining why Parkinson is so keen to bring in more creativity.

Callum Doyle scores Wrexham’s equaliser vs Birmingham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

It’s a similar story at the back with Wrexham yet to keep a clean sheet after four league and Cup outings.

Zak Vyner, preferred to Max Cleworth, was outmuscled by Phil Neumann for the goal and then caught on his heels when the City defender restored the visitors’ advantage just after the hour.

With Hyam also having another testing time in the middle of the back three, Wrexham’s attempts to strengthen will surely have been given more impetus ahead. It could be a busy final few hours at The Racecourse once again.

Richard Sutcliffe

Does this result rescue Chris Davies?

The pressure has been building on Birmingham boss Chris Davies.

Considering the publicly-stated ambitions of chairman Tom Wagner and the club’s US ownership, that’s obvious. The Premier League is the goal and any signs Birmingham may be falling short of that aspiration will crank up the pressure. There have been such signs, last season and at the start of this campaign.

Probably more concerning for Davies is the scrutiny has increased from the fanbase.

Wagner and chief advisor Tom Brady may want to give Davies as much time as possible, having paid the price for a premature change when John Eustace was replaced by Wayne Rooney, with disastrous effect.

There was no doubt there were mounting frustrations at the style of play last season, when results didn’t come, especially away from home. The slow start to this season hasn’t helped Davies’s cause, especially the heavy 6-1 home defeat to Brentford in the Carabao Cup in midweek. Birmingham can’t be seen as a soft touch. At Wrexham they definitely weren’t.

Friday’s game is a huge result for Chris Davies and Birmingham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

During pre-season, Davies pledged he wanted to adapt his side to becoming more direct, more able on the counter attack. There was some evidence of that at Wrexham. His side were more pragmatic. Both goals came from set pieces.

Birmingham fans are a blue-collar fanbase. They have traditionally identified more closely with teams that have been more belligerent, aggressive and uncompromising. They love a bunch of scrappers.

Now his team needs to show the same fight, not just for their season aspirations, but for Davies himself.

Rob Tanner

Why Birmingham need to be more clinical

If Birmingham are to mount a promotion challenge, it was pretty clear, even just from their display at Wrexham, where they need to make a dramatic improvement.

They fell way short of a push for the Premier League last season because of their lack of a killer instinct.

They finished tenth last season, but in terms of their xG they were eighth in the division and sixth in terms of their chances created from open play. Notably, their big chance conversion rate was just 29.9 percent, ranking them 22nd in the Championship.

Put simply: Birmingham create chances, but don’t take them.

At Wrexham, there was a couple of glaring examples. How August Priske missed with a free header from two yards out only he will know. Then again, Priske has only scored twice in 23 appearances in all competitions since joining Birmingham.

They have signed Argentine striker Luis Vasquez for £3 million from Anderlecht in the summer, but he has never reached double figures in a single season in his career.
Marvin Ducksch has a more impressive 10 from 34 appearances for the club, but doesn’t get much of a look in.

Jay Stansfield was guilty of some big misses against Wrexham (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

The emphasis has fallen in recent seasons on Jay Stansfield and his cause has not been helped by a deeply unpopular move — with the supporters — to the left flank. At Wrexham he was back in his best position, behind a main striker.

Shockingly, Stansfield also missed a golden opportunity to make a Wrexham comeback much more difficult. Birmingham can’t afford to be so wasteful in the final third.

Rob Tanner

It’s two wins out of two for Enzo Maresca at Manchester City in the Premier League after a comfortable 4-1 win at Selhurst Park on Friday night.

The line-up revelation was Maresca slotting Marc Guehi back into central defence, with Josko Gvardiol at left-back and Nico O’Reilly stationed in midfield alongside Elliot Anderson. Even so, Palace started better than City, fashioning three shots in the first five minutes.

But Erling Haaland has an almost supernatural ability to score goals against Palace, and the latest came after 17 minutes here, a powerful header from a Semenyo cross that looped over Dean Henderson. It was one of six shots on target for City in the opening 45 minutes — they last hit more in a Premier League first half in May 2024.

Rayan Cherki then put City two up shortly after the break after some wonderful footwork, only for Palace to hit back almost immediately with a Pino free-kick that went in via the woodwork and Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Italian goalkeeper credited with an own goal. Cherki then capped off a frantic five minutes by scoring his second to restore City’s two-goal advantage.

Maresca found time to bring on £86million pound teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi for his City debut, before Haaland added his second, City’s fourth, to round out a highly satisfying evening for the new City boss.

Sam Lee breaks down the key storylines from the game.

Rayan Cherki: one of the Premier League’s main characters

Rayan Cherki’s little glares at the Palace fans when he celebrated his two fantastic goals earned him a colourful send-off from the home fans when he was withdrawn late on, and that is exactly the kind of thing that could make him the Premier League’s biggest star.

He is enigmatic, an artist, and he is up for the fight. His first goal here was very similar to the one he scored against Arsenal at the end of last season, like in a superhero movie when the protagonist slows down time and dodges fists and bullets with ease, in total control of the situation. When he is in full flow like that it is like he is one step ahead of everybody else, and his left deft finish to put City 2-1 up was arguably even more exquisite than the one against Mikel Arteta’s side.

“The man with the magic feet!”

Rayan Cherki doubles Manchester City’s lead with a STUNNING goal 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/9Zea5vFljv

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 28, 2026

It is a mild shame that there was a deflection on his second, but the way he strode towards the Palace area and slammed the ball in is another one of those moments when fans around the world will have sent messages to their group chats to ask if their friends had seen what Cherki did.

It is, for want of a better phrase, main character energy, and with two goals tonight, after two assists from the bench against Bournemouth, he could very easily become the fulcrum of this new-look City team.

The inevitability of Erling Haaland

Haaland now has 10 goals in six appearances against Crystal Palace, and while he may not have looked at his sharpest on the opening weekend, he was at his clinical best on Friday night in south London.

He has not always been the best in the air, despite his huge frame, but his header to open the scoring was beautifully judged, looping dramatically up into the air and back underneath the crossbar. He looked up for this one from the first minute, harrying the Palace defenders and getting back to clear set-pieces, and he added the fourth goal with an emphatic finish to really take the game away from Palace.

Haaland celebrates after scoring his first goal (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

He always starts the season well and after a slow start, by his standards, of one goalless game, he seems to be up and running again.

Marc Guehi back in a familiar role

Before the game, Enzo Maresca told Sky Sports that he wanted Guehi in midfield against Bournemouth last weekend because he needed more bite in the middle of the pitch. “After the Arsenal game, we struggled a little bit in the middle of the pitch. This is a country, a league where you need strong midfielders. Marc, he can do that.”

He certainly did do that, especially when winning the ball back. Even so, Maresca never planned to ask him to do the same again at Selhurst Park and so it was back to defence for him, and he was no less busy.

With City’s system asking Josko Gvardiol to join the attack, and to leave his left-back position to press high, it does mean that Guehi has a lot of covering to do on the left flank, and Palace were very keen to try to exploit those kind of spaces throughout the game.

It meant that Guehi had to be on guard, and he was impressive yet again, in a completely different way to last weekend. City’s recent transfer record is under deserved scrutiny after jettisoning many of the players who had been signed in the last two years, but Guehi, who arrived in January, and of course Cherki, are huge assets.

Why City still have work to do in the transfer window

It is a good job that City did not urgently need their bench on Friday night because it was surely as light as it has been in recent memory, including injury crises.

And that’s the thing, beyond Jeremy Doku, they do not really have any injury worries at the moment, it is just that they have sold their fringe players and are yet to bring in the replacements.

Mateo Kovacic came on in the final 20 minutes when City brought off Gvardiol, who had a slight limp. Kovacic had started all of City’s four pre-season matches, including the Community Shield, but it was he who was left out for Guehi against Bournemouth, a sign of his standing in the pecking order.

With 10 minutes left, new signing Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old who cost £86m from Lille, came on for his debut, as did 18-year-old winger Ryan McAidoo, who is admittedly very promising and could feature in the domestic cups this season, but hardly a sign of fantastic squad depth.

Ayyoub Bouaddi made his City debut on Friday night (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

With Jack Grealish left out as he prepares for a move away, it was glaringly obvious that City need at least three new players to give them any sort of options this season.

Allan is set to join from Palmeiras and they are trying to complete deals for Enzo Fernandez and Illiman Ndiaye, but the bench this evening does suggest that they might even need another (even if the first XI’s performances suggest things are ticking along quite well).

What did Maresca say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for City?

Saturday, September 5: Coventry City (home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET

Dean Henderson: No chance for Manchester City‘s goals but demonstrated his quality with a fine save early on from Anderson, then others from Semenyo and Cherki. 7

Jaydee Convot: Did nothing wrong but ultimately Palace had no answer to Cherki. 6

Chris Richards: Good battle with Haaland, but onlt one player was winning that one. Should have scored with a first-half header. 6

Takehiro Tomiyasu: Solid as usual and will bring experience to the Palace ranks. 6

Anan Khalaili: No lack of effort or energy but short of end product. 6

Daichi Kamada: Busy in midfield as always but struggled to exert influence. 5

Adam Wharton: Class act. Composure, vision and a superb range of passing. At the heart of Palace’s good things,although like others in the Palace ranks was eventually over-run. 7

Tyrick Mitchell: Tenacious and quick but missed a big chance to equalise with a header in the first half. 6

Eddie Nketiah: Lively early on, forcing a save from Donnarumma, but wasted a crucial opportunity early in the second half. 5

Yeremy Pino: Can be a mixed bag but offers real threat, as he showed with his splendid free-kick that went down as a Donnarumma own goal. 6

Jorgen Strand Larsen: Worked hard but lost the physical battle with Dias. Had one first-half chance but failed to convert. 5

Subs:

Evann Guessand (on 63, Strand Larsen), Gozo (on 68, Pino), McNeil (on 68, Nketiah), Disasi (on Tomiyasu 74) Mingueza (on 74, Khalaili)

Subs not used: Benitez, Munoz, Lerma, Hughes