Late Wood strike seals three points for Birmingham

Published November 20, 2014

Chris Wood struck in stoppage time to give 1 win over Club Brugge in Europa League action on Thursday, bringing the Blues into a tie with Brugge for first place in Group H.

The home side went out in front as Joseph Akpala gave Brugge an early lead, but Birmingham battled back and drew level through David Murphy before Wood completed the comeback late in the second half.

Akpala gave Brugge a dream start with his goal in the third minute. The Nigerian striker got on the end of a cross and guided a one-time effort past Birmingham goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, notching his fifth goal in the Europa League campaign.

It looked as if Birmingham could be in for along night away from home, but Murphy equalized in the 26th minute when he ventured into the box unmarked and tucked home a cross at the back post.

Birmingham regrouped for the second half and eventually found the go-ahead goal with virtually no time remaining, as Wood converted a cross from Marlon King to steal all three points.

With Braga and Maribor playing to a 1-1 draw in the other Group H match, the result sees Birmingham go level with Brugge for the top spot with six points apiece. Braga is closely behind with four points and Maribor rounds out the group with one point.

In Group A, Roman Pavlyuchenko scored Tottenham's only goal in a 1-0 defeat of Rubin that sees Spurs move top, and PAOK took second place with a 2-1 win over Shamrock.

In Group B, Cesar Santin scored in the 89th minute to earn a point for FC Copenhagen in a 2-2 draw with Hannover, while Standard Liege was held scoreless at home, drawing 0-0 with Vorskla Poltava.

In Group C, a penalty kick from Georginio Wijnaldum proved to be all PSV Eindhoven would need in a 1-0 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Miroslav Radovic provided the game-winner in the 73rd minute to lift Legia Warsaw past Rapid Bucharest 1-0.

In Group D, Evaldo and Matias Fernandez scored on opposite sides of halftime to see Sporting Lisbon top Vaslui 2-0 in a comfortable home win, while Adrian Nikci quickly equalized after Giuseppe Sculli's first-half opener to see Zurich and Lazio play to a 1-1 draw.

In Group E, three first-half goals lifted Stoke City to a 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Dynamo Kyiv earned a dramatic 1-0 win over Besiktas thanks to a goal from Denys Garmash in stoppage time.

In Group F, two Fernando Llorente penalty kicks salvaged point at home for Athletic Bilbao in a 2-2 draw with Red Bull Salzburg, and PSG failed to break through in a 0-0 draw at Slovan Bratislava.

In Group G, Metalist Kharkiv played 53 minutes with only ten men but still managed a 4-1 win over Malmo, while AZ Alkmaar and Austria Vienna finished deadlocked at 2-2.

In Group I, Udinese conjured two goals in the dying minutes to top Atletico Madrid 2-0 at home, and Joe Ledley scored for Celtic 20 minutes from time to earn a 1-1 draw with Rennes.

In Group J, Wiyam Amashe scored twice inside the opening 20 minutes to lead Maccabi Haifa in a 5-0 win over Steaua Bucharest, while Schalke produced the same score in a 5-0 defeat at AEK Larnaca.

In Group K, Dudu Biton scored in the 60th minute to help Wisla Krakow secure a 1-0 win over Fulham, and Twente dispatched of Odense with a convincing 4-1 score.

In Group L, a brace from Dmitri Sychev helped Loko Moscow to a 3-1 win over AEK Athens, while Anderlecht needed two second-half goals to overcome Sturm Graz in a 2-0 victory for the Belgian side.

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