Birmingham City talking points after goals from Ibrahim Osman and Jay Stansfield sealed a 2-1 win over Leicester City
09:00, 08 Feb 2026Updated 09:07, 08 Feb 2026
Birmingham City moved to within two points of the Championship play-offs with a victory over Leicester City on Saturday.
Jay Stansfield netted the all-important goal in the second half to clinch Blues’ fourth win in six league games and extend their unbeaten run to seven in all competitions.
Ibrahim Osman had earlier given Blues the lead with his first goal in English football before Abdul Fatawu struck back for Leicester.
The Foxes were reduced to 10 men in the first half as a result of Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s rash challenge on Osman and Blues made them pay.
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Osman is a significant upgrade
Based on Osman’s first 55 minutes for Blues, few people could have seen the last two games coming. While Osman showed that he possesses all the raw materials against Stoke City on his debut, he was erratic in the final action.
In the space of two weeks, Osman has regained his match fitness and sharpness to produce two high-level performances that make you wonder what Auxerre didn’t see.
Osman ‘pressed to score’ – Chris Davies will like that – in the third minute to dispossess Ricardo Pereira and finish past Asmir Begovic in an action that set the tone for a Man of the Match performance.
He was all-action and the chief tormentor of Pereira and Leicester’s defence. With five take-ons and seven successful ball carries, Osman had another day to remember.
The 21-year-old appears to be a very shrewd signing on loan from Brighton and is proving to be a major upgrade on Lewis Koumas.
Three changes made the difference
Leicester’s answer to being reduced to 10 men was to shift to a 4-3-2 formation with Fatawu and Patson Daka up front. In doing so, they conceded space out wide and invited crosses from Blues in the belief that Jamaal Lascelles and Ben Nelson would better Stansfield and Marvin Ducksch in the air.
Rather than fight fire with fire by bringing on August Priske, Davies reached for his technicians. Tommy Doyle and Patrick Roberts were brought on to provide poise in possession and Bright Osayi-Samuel’s introduction saw Tomoki Iwata move to centre-back.
The intention was to improve the quality of Blues’ possession play to move Leicester around and create openings, which they did in the 67th minute when Roberts found Ducksch to slip in Stansfield for the winning goal.
Birmingham City players celebrate Jay Stansfield’s winning goal against Leicester
Stansfield delivers a goal – but he’s more than that to Blues
There was a 30-second play in the second half, when Blues were chasing their winner, when Stansfield charged between three Leicester players to force a mistake.
The crowd roared in appreciation of Stansfield’s work-rate and his teammates followed his lead.
From that moment, Blues got after Leicester and fittingly it was Stansfield who struck the winning goal to end his 13-game wait for a goal.
We have seen during those 13 matches that Stansfield offers Blues more than just goals, which is why his place in the starting XI has never really been in doubt.
Davies sought to reassure Stansfield of that before the Leicester match – maybe that relieved any pressure Stansfield was starting to feel burdened by. He relaxed and did what he does best when the chance came.
A win to go into the top-six
What a crazy league the Championship is. Blues appeared to be dead and buried in the race for the top-six on New Year’s Day when they lost to a Watford side tracking down the top-two.
Fast-forward five weeks and Blues are two points behind sixth, courtesy of Wrexham’s defeat to Millwall, and they have just leapfrogged managerless Watford.
With no one else playing, Blues now have the chance to move into the top-six with a victory over beleaguered West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.
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