Paik Seung-ho came off the bench to fire Birmingham City to a comeback victory at Pride Park. The Blues recovered from conceding first to beat Derby County 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Chris Davies's side now sit ninth in the Championship with 10 points from their opening seven games. The win, which follows a draw and a defeat in their previous two outings, keeps them within four points of the automatic promotion places.
Derby took the lead five minutes before half-time when Bobby Clark finished from a clever Sammie Szmodics pass. The advantage lasted just two minutes, however, as Liam Millar set up Carlos Vicente to level the score before the break.
The match turned on a lengthy stoppage after Derby's Henrik Meister suffered a serious injury and was stretchered off. When play resumed, Birmingham were the sharper side. Millar was the creator again in the 63rd minute, his cross finding Paik who had been on the pitch for only four minutes. The South Korean midfielder drove home his first goal since December to complete the turnaround.
Derby pushed for an equaliser during 13 minutes of added time. James Beadle made a vital save to deny Mo Fuseini, and Christoph Klarer produced two heroic goal-line blocks to stop Szmodics. At the other end, Luis Vazquez somehow fired over from two yards after Ethan Laird's shot was parried.
Blues manager Chris Davies pointed to the progress in his team's performances. "I think I'm right in saying we've got the same amount of points from the same amount of games as we did last season," Davies said. "But we've looked a completely different team."
Derby boss John Eustace was left frustrated by the goals his side conceded. "I thought we were excellent in large parts of the game against a very competitive team," he said. "Really disappointed in the two goals we conceded, we need to be better after getting caught in possession and then defending the far post."
The victory was Birmingham's second in their last five matches, a run that also includes draws with Wolves and Southampton. Patrick Roberts remains sidelined for the upcoming fixtures.
Attention now turns to a tough test at St Andrew's next Saturday. Birmingham host fourth-placed Middlesbrough, with full details of the fixtures schedule available. The current standings show the Blues firmly in the mix in a congested top half of the table.
