Birmingham paid the price for Nikola Zigic's early saved penalty as a narrow defeat in Braga left them facing an uphill battle in their bid to progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

The Serbian saw his 11th-minute spot-kick saved by goalkeeper Quim and the Portuguese hosts went on to claim victory thanks to a touch of City misfortune as Hugo Viana's 50th-minute strike took a huge deflection off Curtis Davies.

The result saw Braga qualify for the last 32 from a tight Group H based on their head-to-head record and a 3-1 victory at St Andrew's on matchday one, while Club Brugge's dramatic fight back to claim a 4-3 victory over bottom club Maribor also sent them three points clear of City.

It left the Blues needing to defeat Maribor in the final round of fixtures and hope Brugge and Braga do not play out a draw which would see the Belgium side through.

In a game not over-laden with chances, Chris Hughton’s side could have bettered their cause with an equaliser in the latter stages, but sub Marlon King and Chris Burke got in each other's way when either man could have levelled to grab a vital point.