Birmingham 1-1 Southampton: Priske Header Earns Blues a Point
August Priske earned Birmingham a point with a 1-1 draw against Southampton in a breathless Championship encounter.
The Danish striker’s neat header in the 55th minute cancelled out new signing Keven Schlotterbeck’s towering effort, which had put the visitors ahead in the third minute of first-half added time.
Birmingham will feel they should have had more from the game, having had the lion’s share of the chances, with Jay Stansfield twice missing gilt-edged opportunities, including one that came back off the post.
It was an end-to-end start, with openings at both ends. Saints striker Cyle Larin was played through by Finn Azaz but could only fire a low effort straight at James Beadle.
At the other end, Birmingham, who signed Hull winger Liam Millar on a season-long loan on deadline day, forced Daniel Peretz into a diving save from Priske’s low drive. Beadle’s clearance was then charged down by Azaz, but the ball trickled just wide as Southampton threatened.
Stansfield rattled the inside of the post after a 40-yard dash following a mis-hit backpass from Schlotterbeck, before the £10m striker headed narrowly wide, unmarked, from Alex Cochrane’s cross.
Birmingham continued to press, with Jhon Solis firing just wide from 20 yards, while Larin lashed over after Azaz split the home defence with a clever pass. Cochrane’s deep free-kick then gave Tomoki Iwata a sight of goal at the far post, but he sliced his effort wide unmarked, and Priske’s twisting header dropped just off target from a Patrick Roberts cross soon after.
Southampton made the home side pay for those missed chances when Schlotterbeck headed powerfully home from Leo Scienza’s corner, his first goal since January 2025.
Birmingham thought they had levelled early in the second half when Roberts worked his way through, only for Peretz to smother his effort. But the equaliser did arrive soon after, Roberts crossing for Priske to guide a header into the net for his first league goal of the season.
Southampton had a good chance to restore their lead when substitute James Ward-Prowse’s deflected shot was pushed up by Beadle, but Larin could only loop the rebound wide. Birmingham then had a let-off as Kuryu Matsuki’s volley was ruled out for offside, before Priske saw a rising effort fly just over.
Beadle also did well to palm away a 25-yard Ward-Prowse free-kick, with James Bree firing the rebound into the side-netting, while Phil Neumann headed straight at Peretz from a Demarai Gray free-kick as Birmingham pushed for a winner that never came.
