Birmingham City bowed out of the FA Cup on penalties after a frenetic 120 minutes of football against Premier League side Leeds United at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park on Sunday lunchtime.
Patrick Roberts’ late equaliser with two minutes remaining sent the game to extra time after Lukas Nmecha’s opener.
Blues held firm against their quality-laden opponents, but Leeds clinched their place in the fifth round with a 4-2 victory in the shoot-out. Sean Langstaff struck the decisive blow after Roberts and Tommy Doyle had failed to score for Blues.
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An impressive tifo – wishing chairman Tom Wagner a speedy recovery from his stroke – was displayed in the lower Tilton prior to kick-off, thanks to the Official Supporters’ Club. A period of applause also took place in the 13th minute – owing to the 56-year-old’s lucky number.
It was made public knowledge that Wagner had recently suffered a stroke on Wednesday | Image: @BCFC
Blues were spurred on by a raucous crowd in the early stages and could have taken the lead inside four minutes.
A deep corner from Wolves loanee Doyle was met by Jhon Solis at the far post, but the Colombian could only find the side-netting when he should have done better.
Blues came even closer eight minutes later when Stansfield’s effort was impressively tipped onto the post by Leeds stopper Lucas Perri. A long ball from Ryan Allsop was kept alive before Perri produced a spectacular save to keep out Stansfield’s left-footed strike.
Stansfield turned provider in the 16th minute after another one of Allsop’s fantastic long kicks created another chance in a period of Blues dominance.
The striker brought the ball down with his chest and weaved through a plethora of onrushing Leeds bodies before slipping Carlos Vicente in with a spectacular sliderule pass. Vicente’s effort might have squeezed in at the near post had it not been for a great block from Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Demarai Gray was the next to test Perri in a half where Blues had all the notable chances against their top-flight opposition. Gray’s low drive was palmed away by Perri’s right hand.
That was to be the Birmingham-born winger’s last involvement on his first start since Boxing Day; he was replaced by Ibrahim Osman at half-time.
Gray made his first start since recovering from a calf injury he sustained during Blues’ 1-1 draw with Derby County against Leeds | Image: @BCFC
Blues limited Leeds to very little in the first half, but Daniel Farke’s side only needed one half-chance to punish their hosts within four minutes of the restart.
Nmecha evaded Christoph Klarer before leaving Allsop stunned by unleashing a ferocious strike of Premier League quality into the back of the net from 20 yards out.
That did not dishearten Blues though – and the chances kept coming.
Centre-back Jonathan Panzo, on his Blues debut, slid Vicente in with a clever ball down the right, but the Spanish winger’s cross was just too hard for the stretching August Priske to reach.
Osman raced away from Leeds right-back James Justin 11 minutes from time, but he could not find either Stansfield or Roberts waiting in the box.
A chance for Osman to redeem himself arrived on 86 minutes when Doyle’s right-wing cross found him at the far post, but the on-loan Brighton man slipped and dragged his effort wide.
Blues found a deserved equaliser in the final minute of normal time. Kai Wagner’s corner from the right was only cleared as far as Roberts, and Perri looked to have his strike covered, but a deflection off Justin helped the ball into the far corner.
Roberts replaced Vicente in the 74th minute of the Leeds match | Image: @BCFC
The enthralling cup contest was far from over, though, and there were still chances for both teams to win it in stoppage time.
Leeds substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin might have found the net had it not been for a heroic block from German left-back Wagner, but Blues had an even bigger chance to win it before full-time.
A clever throw-in from Wagner found Osman, who saw his low effort bounce off the foot of the post. Kanya Fujimoto’s eyes lit up as the ball then fell kindly for him, but the lesser spotted Japanese midfielder could not force the ball into the net.
Phil Neumann took the place of debutant Panzo before extra-time, but the closer penalties got, the more Leeds showed their class.
With fellow substitute Joel Piroe screaming for him to square the ball, Calvert-Lewin saw his shot across goal saved by Allsop in the final minute, but the two sides could not be separated.
Both sides scored their first two spot-kicks before misses from Doyle and Roberts allowed Leeds the chance to capitalise. Doyle’s penalty was saved by Perri before Roberts shot too high, giving Langstaff the chance to win it in front of the travelling Leeds faithful – which he did.
It was not to be for Blues, who were trying to book their spot in the fifth round for the first time since 2020, but not one of the 28,035 inside St. Andrew’s could be disappointed by their performance – as a team or individually. Once again, they gave a very good account of themselves against top-flight opposition.
Blues have a lot of positives to take from their performance against Leeds | Image: @BCFC
“I am proud – and the players should be proud of themselves,” Davies told Blues+ post-match. “They gave a lot, every single one of them to a man, and can hold their heads up high.
“If we had scored that goal in the last minute of the game and won 2-1, there would have been no complaints from anyone and that says it all really.
*“In extra time, both sides are digging in, there’s tired bodies and then when it comes to penalties you have to go for it as best you can, but it wasn’t to be,*” he continued.
“We hit the post twice, we had clearances, we have had a few games like that but this one in particular – against a good quality team – we really showed what we are capable of.
“We were quick into the game, aggressive, tenacious, we were fluid with the ball and caused them problems.
“I liked everything about them (Blues) in the first half, we gave nothing away and we looked strong.
*“We concede a sloppy goal in the second half, but outside of that we kept going and threw everything at it, got a deserved equaliser and then nearly a winning goal.*”
My Player of the Match: Jay Stansfield, Birmingham City
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Featured Image: @BCFC