Jackson Tchatchoua's calamitous own goal earned Birmingham City a point as they drew 2-2 with Wolves in an absorbing West Midlands derby in the Championship.

Wolves were looking to go second in the early-season table with a win, but they were pegged back twice as the rivals shared four goals in the first half, and they were arguably fortunate to escape St. Andrew's with a draw as Birmingham bossed the second half.

Wolves made a lightning start as Rodrigo Gomes' low cross from the right was turned home by Fer Lopez in the third minute, though Gomes missed a huge chance to double their lead shortly afterwards, with James Beadle getting a hand to his attempted lob.

Jay Stansfield's crashing volley inside the near post got Birmingham level in the 22nd minute, but Wolves soon got back on top as Ladislav Krejci – making his first start since representing Czechia at the World Cup – reacted to Andre's flick-on with a bullet header into the top-left corner.

A defensive debacle saw Wolves pegged back once again, as Tchatchoua's terrible back pass sailed over Jose Sa and into the net, and they were unable to re-establish their lead before half-time as Raul Jimenez's free-kick thumped against the crossbar.

It was the hosts who came out stronger after the interval, with Phil Neumann's towering header taking a touch off Tchatchoua before it rebounded off the bar, then fellow centre-back Christoph Klarer nodded wide when left completely unmarked from a free-kick.

Despite Wolves spending long periods penned back inside their own area, they missed a glaring chance for a winner when the game became stretched late on, with Adam Armstrong blazing over an unguarded net after being teed up by Lopez.

Chris Davies' hosts also went close when Tchatchoua gave away a needless free-kick deep into stoppage time, with Sa diving to his right to repel Marvin Ducksch's attempt.

Points shared after derby thriller

Under former Gil Vicente boss Cesar Peixoto, Wolves have been appointment viewing in the Championship this season, even if their head coach would rather see the defensive errors cut out.

Their five games have contained 23 goals (an average of 4.6 per match), as they have the Championship's best attack (13 goals) and joint second-worst defence (10 conceded).

They won the expected goals battle by 2.03 xG to 1.47 on Sunday, but only 0.62 of that figure came in the second half as Birmingham, buoyed by Tchatchoua's bizarre own goal, pushed their visitors back.

Birmingham are now unbeaten in 10 league games dating back to last season, albeit they have drawn six of those matches, and they have also drawn four of their five games this term (W1) to sit 10th in the early table, one point and one place below Wolves.