Birmingham City won their first match of the Premiership season with a 2-1 victory over Derby County at the Pride Park Stadium on Saturday. A goal in either half by Cameron Jerome was enough for Birmingham as Steve Bruce went one up in the relegation battle against Derby. Derby had earlier pulled level through Matt Oakley in the 51st minute but went behind nine minutes later as they continue to search for a victory in the Premiership.

Birmingham took the lead in the opening minute of the game when a poor clearance by Derby defense found Mikael Forssell and the Finnish striker played in Jerome who made no mistake in smashing the ball past Stephen Bywater from a tight angle. Derby had a great chance of pulling level through Gary Teale, but his shot was tipped wide just in time by Maik Taylor. However the chance proved to be a rare bright spot for the hosts in a game which was dominated by Birmingham.

Jerome released Forssell with a clever flick but just as the striker was shaping himself to round the keeper, Bywater managed to get the ball clear for a Birmingham corner from which Radhi Jaidi climbed high to head against the cross bar. The second half was the same as the first as Birmingham looked to put the match beyond Derby's reach. However the hosts got the equalizer against the run of play when Eddie Lewis found Oakley unmarked and the striker made no mistake in volleying the ball into the net.

Derby almost took the lead through Stephen Pearson but were denied only by a last ditch attempts by Taylor and Jaidi. Birmingham took the lead in the 63rd minute when Jerome latched onto Stephen Kelly's cross to volley in his second goal of the game. Derby almost got an injury time equalizer when Taylor made a fantastic save to deny Oakley, as Birmingham won its first live football game of the season.