Birmingham fell to their fifth straight loss as Preston produced one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Championship. Ryan Lowe’s team won the first Championship game that was completely officiated by a female official thanks to goals from captain Alan Browne and Ryan Ledson in the first 15 minutes. Although substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz’s late goal cut the deficit, North End still managed to win on the road for the eighth time this season, a feat only second in the division in the division by Sheffield United, who are now in second place. But before that, three Birmingham supporters interrupted the game by entering the field in protest against the club’s board in the 77th minute.
After Kevin Long and Hannibal Mejbri failed to convince head away Robbie Brady’s cross in the 10th minute, midfielder Ledson successfully headed home a loose ball from the edge of the box. Since April 2021, the 25-year-old had not scored a League goal. Five minutes later, midfielder Browne headed in from close range Brady’s near-post corner to give North End a two-goal advantage. Blues did not resurface as an attacking force until the 26th minute when Scott Hogan met Maxime Colin’s cross with a forceful header that missed the target.
Troy Deeney headed the ball back into the danger zone after Mejbri passed it across the field. Hogan decided to take a touch instead of shooting the first time but was squeezed out by Browne and a defender who then collided with him. In an effort to get his team back into the game, Blues head coach John Eustace made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute. For Long, Mejbri, Tahith Chong, George Friend, Juninho Bacuna, and Jutkiewicz entered the scene. But at first, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference as the hosts struggled to get past a stubborn Preston defense. In the 83rd minute, Jutkiewicz headed home Colin’s cross to calm the demonstrators and give the Blues hope, but it was too little, too late.
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