Championship: Birmingham late show stuns Blackburn as Preston down Leicester

Birmingham City picked up their first win back in the Championship after leaving it late to stun Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Ewood Park.

Having conceded a late equaliser in their opening match in the second tier against Ipswich Town, Chris Davies’ side scored twice in eight minutes to emerge victorious.

After a quiet first-half, Todd Cantwell put Rovers ahead in the 50th minute, volleying home an effort following a corner which was cleared away by Birmingham.

With the hosts looking set for victory, Ethan Laird was brought down in the box in the 90th minute, winning the visitors a penalty, which was calmly converted by Jay Stansfield.

Blues then snatched all three points eight minutes into second-half stoppage time, with Demari Gray picking out Lyndon Dykes, who steered the ball beyond Balazs Toth.

OH WE DO LOVE PLAYING AWAY!!! pic.twitter.com/EpYS9MWarA

— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) August 16, 2025

Elsewhere, Leicester City suffered their first defeat of the Championship season on Saturday, losing 2-1 away from home to Preston North End.

The hosts took an early lead in the seventh minute through Tottenham loanee Alfie Devine, who took the ball past Jakub Stolarczyk, after he came out of his box, and finished into an open net.

Marti Cifuentes’ side found a leveller in the 67th minute through Jeremy Monga, who at 16 years and 37 days old, became the youngest goalscorer in Championship history, surpassing Jude Bellingham’s record from 2019.

Milutin Osmajic was the hero for Preston five minutes from time when he latched onto a ball by Thierry Small, and confidently finished in the centre of the box to win the game.

Preston now have their first win of the season alongside an early slip-up for the Foxes, who are hoping for immediate promotion back to the Premier League.

Struggling Sheffield Wednesday played their first game of the season at Hillsborough on Saturday but were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Stoke City.

The visitors took a first-minute lead through Million Manhoef, after an error in the Wednesday midfield. Second-half goals by Divin Mubama, who also netted within one minute of kick-off, and a second from Manhoef helped Stoke maintain their perfect start to the season.

Wednesday’s city rivals also suffered defeat, as Sheffield United lost 1-0 away to Swansea City following a winner by Ronald Pereira. The Blades are still looking for their first points of the season under new boss Ruben Selles.

Defeat away from home. pic.twitter.com/vyOj4Lzn5f

— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) August 16, 2025

Data Debrief: Blues love playing away as Foxes come unstuck

Birmingham’s late turnaround saw them extend an impressive record on the road. Indeed, Blues have not lost their opening away game in any of the last seven seasons (W4 D3) since losing to Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2018-19.

Leicester, meanwhile, were unbeaten in five league games against Preston prior to Saturday’s meeting (D1 L4), and away from home, they were unbeaten in seven (W3 D4).

Despite having one more shot than Preston, Leicester struggled in front of goal, registering just 1.1 expected goals (xG) total to the hosts’ 2.3.

Sheffield United’s struggles, though, are ongoing. They failed to register a shot on target against Swansea, the first time they had done so since October 2024.