Last update on. From the section ChampionshipMaxime Colin scored the previous goal for Birmingham in a home defeat of Middlesbrough 4-1Birmingham City defeated Sheffield United in the Championship's opening weekend.Blues scored the opening goal in the first period when Maxime Colin, Jeremie Bela’s floated cross to his back post, headed home.Oliver Burke hit a low drive against a near post to help the Blades close to an instant equalizerSlavisa Jokanovic brought on strikers Oli MacBurnie, Rhian Brawster, and Billy Sharp to try and level the playing field. However, they couldn't break down a determined and well-organised Birmingham team.It could have been worse. Blues missed an excellent chance to make it 2:0 when Scott Hogan scored from six yards after Lukas Jutkiewicz's cross had sent the ball back to him.Colin had another header disallowed following the break, when Jutkiewicz argued that he had pushed Ben Osborn into the box.Since taking over as Birmingham's head coach in March, Lee Bowyer has won six of his eleven games. Fans can expect a strong campaign following several seasons in which they narrowly avoided being relegated to League One.Although Debutant Tahith Chong was a Manchester United summer loan signing, it was Colin who impressed throughout the match. The right-back beat Osborn and swept past Aaron Ramsdale to win the Blades goal.United dominated possession with Norway's international Sander Berge being the standout with his direct running. However, United failed to make any clear-cut chances and only had two shots on target.The Blades felt that they should have been awarded a penalty after Gardner blocked John Fleck's attempt with his arm. They scored only 20 goals last season as they finished at the bottom of the Premier League. Jokanovic, their new boss, will need to quickly fix their goalscoring problems if they want to challenge for the Championship title.They will host League Two Carlisle in Tuesday's Carabao Cup, while Blues have a home tie against fourth-tier opposition when they face Colchester that evening.Slavisa Jokanovic, manager of Sheffield United:"We didn't perform badly. They scored their first shot. This is how I feel about the game."I am disappointed with the outcome. We can't be happy that we didn’t make our supporters happy."We tried many things and we were able to show a lot of what we did. They were able to show personality and character while trying to score goals."Yes, time is important. I'm not disappointed with the effort we have made today. While we need to improve certain aspects of the game, what is most important is to be more clinical.Lee Bowyer is the head coach of Birmingham City"I am delighted with all three points. I thought that we were solid and very competent from start to finish. We had more clear-cut chances and were less likely to be beaten."We had a goal disallowed, I don't know why, but I felt we deserved to win."We knew that Sheffield United would be the top team in possession. But we had to limit their attempts at our goal. So I'm happy."
