Newcastle edged previous Birmingham Metropolis in a match at St.Andrews, securing a 3-2 victory to advance within the FA Cup.
The hosts took the lead inside one minute by way of Ethan Laird, earlier than Joe Willock and Callum Wilson introduced the tie again into the Magpies’ favour.
Tomoki Iwata then drew Birmingham stage simply earlier than half-time, however a late Willock second meant it might be the Premier League aspect advancing.
Eddie Howe made 9 modifications to the aspect that beat Arsenal within the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final on Wednesday night time and the reshuffled guests failed their first check within the opening minute.
A Birmingham nook was nodded again into the centre and Laird was readily available to fireplace dwelling by way of a deflection off Wilson.
St. Andrew’s was bouncing and the house aspect nearly made it 2-0 after 14 minutes courtesy of one other set-piece.
Marc Leonard’s free-kick was helped on by Alex Cochrane for Keshi Anderson and his beautifully-timed volley from the sting of the world introduced a superb one-handed save from Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Having appeared disjointed and toothless within the first half of the opening interval, Newcastle carved out a controversial equaliser from their first assault of notice.
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— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 8, 2025
Wilson crossed from the left and, after William Osula pulled it again on the far submit, Willock stabbed the ball goalwards with Bailey Peacock-Farrell making a save from behind the road.
The assistant referee was fast to adjudge the ball had gone in though replays had been inconclusive.The aim deflated Birmingham and Newcastle capitalised by going forward nearly instantly.
Once more there was a component of chaos about it as Wilson’s preliminary effort from Tino Livramento’s cross was blocked on the road by his personal man in Osula earlier than the previous England striker poked dwelling the rebound.
The house aspect had been wobbling and the identical assistant referee that had angered them earlier got here to their rescue by rightly ruling out a Willock aim for offside.Birmingham had barely ventured into the Newcastle half for 20 minutes however they should have levelled out of nowhere.
Anderson escaped down the left and whipped in an ideal cross for Jay Stansfield however the £15million striker in some way planted his header large from six yards when fully unmarked.
Scott Wright ought to have finished higher than scuff his effort straight at Pope following good work from Iwata, forcing the Japanese midfielder to take issues into his personal fingers minutes later.
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— Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 8, 2025
Newcastle might solely partially clear a cross from Birmingham’s left and Iwata latched onto the unfastened ball to fireplace a surprising shot into the roof of the online from 25 yards.
The second interval began with Newcastle asserting management, dominating possession and retaining their hosts pinned again. Nonetheless, a collection of stoppages disrupted the movement, together with a prolonged delay for Birmingham’s Leonard, who suffered a serious-looking leg harm after a problem with Lewis Miley.
As play resumed, each groups struggled to carve out clear-cut possibilities amid an more and more scrappy affair. The match turned extra bodily, with a flurry of yellow playing cards issued to either side as tensions rose.
Regardless of Birmingham’s efforts to push ahead, Newcastle discovered the breakthrough within the 82nd minute. Willock, who had began the transfer, continued his run and capitalised on a lucky deflection to fit the ball below Peacock-Farrell, restoring the guests’ lead.
Birmingham fought exhausting to reply, launching lengthy balls ahead and urgent excessive within the ultimate moments. A dramatic clearance off the road by Dowell denied Murphy a decisive aim, whereas Nick Pope produced an important save to take care of Newcastle’s benefit as stoppage time stretched past 12 minutes.
Regardless of their spirited struggle, Birmingham finally fell brief, and Newcastle’s Premier League high quality shone by way of in a gritty, hard-fought second half that noticed them progress to the following spherical.
