Birmingham City almost pulled off the great escape tonight but had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Club Brugge at St Andrews.
The Blues found themselves two down at half-time following goals from Thomas Meunier and Joseph Akpala but rallied to grab a point from their Group H clash which has them placed equal on points with tonight's opponents and last season's runners-up Sporting Braga.
The fightback came courtesy of Jean Beausejour's first goal of the campaign which came in the 55th minute from a rebound from Nikola Zigic's initial attempt before Marlon King hammered home from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining after Ryan Donk was adjudged to have brought down Beausejour in the area.
Birmingham had some chances to win the contest but were unable to again breach the Brugge defence and they now sit precariously in third on the group table ahead of their next meeting with leaders Braga in Portugal on November 30 as Brugge are away to bottom-placed NK Maribor.
Europa League Group H
Birmingham City (ENG): 2 (Jean Beausejour 55', Marlon King (p) 74') Club Brugge (BEL): 2 (Thomas Meunier 39', Joseph Akpala 44') St Andrews, Birmingham
Yellow cards:BIR - Nikola Zigic 58', Guiranne N'Daw 73' BRU - Joseph Akpala 23', Vladan Kujovic 63', Ryan Donk 64', Bjorn Vleminckx 90'
