McEachran scores as Bees draw with 10-man Birmingham

Brentford 1 Birmingham 1

Josh McEachran scored his first senior goal as Brentford dropped points at home against 10-man Birmingham.

The midfielder equalised three minutes before the break with a free-kick pushed into his own net by Lee Camp, after the Bees had fallen behind to Michael Morrison’s header.

Birmingham went into meltdown in the second half as Maikel Kieftenbeld was sent off for an off-the-ball clash with Neal Maupay, and then manager Garry Monk was also dismissed after a melee ensued between players and staff.

But Brentford could not take advantage despite great efforts from Alan Judge and Sergi Canos, failing to win for a fourth straight Championship game.

Birmingham, who won at Leeds in their previous away trip, capitalised on a good spell of pressure on 26 minutes when ex-Bees star Jota’s corner was turned in by Morrison.

Luke Daniels – replacing Daniel Bentley after his errors cost dear in a 2-2 draw with Reading at the weekend – made his first league start and the keeper made an excellent stop to deny Che Adams from close range.

McEachran’s fierce effort from a tight angle was too powerful for Camp to stop and the keeper pushed the midfielder’s strike into his near corner.

But Camp made good saves to deny Judge, Maupay and Henrik Dalsgaard late on after Canos, who captained the side, went close to the far post by a whisker.