Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds (2-4 on penalties) Daniel Farke’s side qualified for the FA Cup fifth round after defeating the Blues in an epic cup clash at St Andrews.
Leeds beat Birmingham City on penalties to advance to the FA Cup fifth round
This was an absolute FA Cup classic for all time. There was blood and thunder, great drama and a cracking atmosphere at St Andrews.
And it’s proof that English football’s famous old finals are still alive and well. In the end, Leeds were forced to advance to the fifth round on penalties after a dramatic draw, but it was a throwback to the past.
By the end, Leeds were so exhausted they could barely muster the energy to turn to their fans to celebrate Sean Longstaff’s shoot-out winning spot-kick.
They gave it their all, with some Leeds players convulsing and collapsing, while others took their places to applause and roars from the away side.
You have to feel sorry for the brave Birmingham City who gave everything and perhaps deserved more, but they too only had themselves to blame for missing out on such a hat-trick opportunity.
Make mirrors your first choice. Click here to enable or add us as a preferred source in your Google search settings
read more: Nottingham Forest appoint Vitor Pereira as fourth manager of the season following Sean Dyche’s sackingread more: Wayne Rooney doubles down on Manchester United signing after offer for Michael Carrick
Birmingham substitute Patrick Roberts’ deflected shot in the 89th minute tied the game and sent extra time, but none of the neutrals wanted the game to end. Incredibly, Blues substitute Ibrahim Osman hit a shot inside the post in the sixth minute of stoppage time. This would have prevented any additional drama.
The home fans sang: “We are Birmingham City, we will fight till the end”. And that’s exactly what they did. They gave their all and are returning home with this heart and soul.
Leeds also showed real grit and fight, reaching the fifth round for the third time in five years, having played against Crawley in 2021.
Leeds manager Daniel Farke has instilled a new fortitude in his side over the past three months, leaving them with a six-point cushion above the drop zone and looking forward to progressing into cup competition.
The doom-mongers who voided the FA Cup because replays were abolished and penalties introduced had their point, and you sympathize with the lower league teams who missed out on a second payday.
Patrick Roberts scored the last tying goal to send the game into overtime.
But the one-off tie added a whole new dimension to the excitement, and also brought a modern feel to the very old school cup tie.
It was a great moment 13 minutes into the game when Birmingham fans applauded and a message of well wishes for American owner Tom Wagner (his lucky number), who suffered a stroke this week, was shown on the big screen.
Birmingham are a club that is on the rise under new ownership, have a big player in Jay Stansfield and produced some magic early on as Leeds keeper Lucas Perrie managed to push the ball inside the post.
The first half was largely one-way traffic for Birmingham, who were unable to find a breakthrough. Demarai Gray came close to scoring twice and Leeds were dominated. Midfielder John Solis, on loan from Birmingham, was outstanding.
Falke has been criticized in the past for not being proactive about using substitutes, but that has been the case recently, and he has wasted no time adding to his midfield strength by introducing Ethan Ampadu for lightweight playmaker Facundo Buonanotte.
Leeds players celebrate after Sean Longstaff scores the winning penalty
Stansfield and Marvin Duchsch converted for the Blues, but Tommy Doyle and Roberts missed out. Leeds had Joel Pillow, Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson and Longstaff all on target.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League games this season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
