Birmingham City claimed a rare point on their travels as they came from behind to draw 1-1 at Swansea City.
Swansea were on course for a fifth successive Championship home win after Zan Vipotnik’s cushioned volley gave them a first-half lead.
Vitor Matos’ team went on to hit the woodwork three times, but their failure to find a second goal meant Patrick Roberts’ close-range drive was enough for the draw.
The Blues’ run without an away league victory stretches to eight matches, though this was a welcome result given that Chris Davies’ team have banked only six points from the past 39 on offer on their travels.
Swansea, who drew for the first time in 11 league games under Matos, climb a place to 16th in the table – though the gap to the bottom three is down to six points – with Birmingham two points better off in 14th.
The hosts’ goal came after Goncalo Franco got to the ball ahead of Kai Wagner down the Birmingham left and delivered a driven cross which Vipotnik met first time, his instinctive effort bouncing into the net despite a touch from James Beadle.
Birmingham’s keeper then did superbly to deny Swansea a well-crafted second goal, with Franco’s left-foot shot bound for the far corner until England Under-21 international Beadle pushed the ball on to the bar.
Birmingham had their moments in the first period, with Marvin Ducksch seeing an effort blocked, Roberts firing wastefully over and Kyogo Furuhashi making the wrong contact with Tomoki Iwata’s cross when he seemed odds-on to score at the far post.
Swansea came close to extending their advantage early in the second half when a Ronald thumped a half-volley against the woodwork after a corner was not cleared.
The Swans were made to pay for their profligacy when Wagner’s cross from the left was helped on by Ducksch and Roberts wriggled into a yard of space before drilling the ball home via the underside of the bar.
Substitute Jay Stansfield was then denied the chance to put Birmingham ahead by Jay Fulton’s superb last-ditch tackle, before Swansea came within inches of having the last laugh when Liam Cullen’s fine header bounced to safety off the bar.
Davies, a former Welsh youth international, was back on familiar territory having been assistant to Brendan Rodgers when the Northern Irishman led Swansea to the Premier League 15 years ago.
The Birmingham boss said before returning to Wales that there was a “good feel” around the club in the wake of a home success against Coventry City and last weekend’s FA Cup triumph at Cambridge.
This draw maintains momentum for Davies’ side, even if Swansea will feel they did enough to triumph.
Vipotnik’s 11th league goal of the season means he is now the joint leading scorer in the Championship.
Matos may be left ruing the fact that none of his team’s other big opportunities fell to his in-form centre-forward.
