Football Review | Birmingham City 4 - 0 Millwall

Millwall suffered their first away defeat of the 2025/26 season

Birmingham City cruised to a 4-0 victory

Author | James P

Stadium | St. Andrew's 

Paik Seung-ho, Demarai Gray, Alex Cochrane and Jay Stansfield all found the net as Birmingham City cruised to victory and claimed three points.

Alex Neil made four changes to his Millwall side, two of them forced by injury, with Ryan Leonard and Femi Azeez sidelined and replaced by Wes Harding and Camiel Neghli. Billy Mitchell and Joe Bryan also returned, with Derek Mazou-Sacko and Zak Sturge making way.

On a rain-soaked night in the Midlands, Tommy Doyle had the first attempt, firing just wide of Max Crocombe’s post. A neat pass from Mitchell soon released Bryan down the left, whose cut inside led to a shot that was deflected behind.

Gray tested Crocombe with a low drive after 16 minutes, before Luke Cundle forced James Beadle into a fine save at the other end. Stansfield then shot straight at Crocombe midway through the half, but with 28 minutes gone, Paik controlled a deep cross at the back post and lashed the ball across goal to give Birmingham the lead.

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Doyle’s teasing delivery was hacked clear as the hosts pressed for a second, but Millwall almost levelled when Jake Cooper surged forward and set up Neghli, whose skidding effort was well held by Beadle. Moments before half-time, Birmingham struck again, seizing on a loose ball to break quickly. Stansfield’s cross found Gray, who coolly guided home.

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What happened in the second-half?

Four minutes after the restart, Birmingham added a third when Cochrane unleashed a superb strike from the edge of the area that left Crocombe helpless. Millwall tried to respond, with Thierno Ballo’s cross collected by Beadle and Aidomo Emakhu brought on to freshen the attack, but the home side remained in control.

Keshi Anderson went close with a curling effort before Stansfield broke through the defence on 66 minutes to make it four. Neil’s triple substitution in the closing stages introduced Caleb Taylor, Zak Sturge and Macaulay Langstaff, but it did little to change the course of the match.

Birmingham continued to threaten, with Kyogo Furuhashi denied by Crocombe late on, while Mazou-Sacko saw a shot blocked near the end. The whistle confirmed Millwall’s first away defeat of the season, as Birmingham delivered a commanding display in front of their home crowd.

"We just weren't good enough on the evening..."

Those were the words of the Millwall boss Alex Neil after the match. He went onto say: "We've been good across most of the season so far, but tonight was a real disappointment for us. Timings of goals are always important. Conceding in the 45th minute and in the 48th minute is just horrendous timing. Just before half time, and just after half time. Credit to Birmingham , they were the better side, they deserved to win, we just didn't do enough"