Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United (2-4 pens): FLW report as Whites edge past Blues on penalties in dramatic FA Cup clash | OneFootball

FLW report from St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for this FA Cup clash

Birmingham City saw their FA Cup run ended at the fourth round stage for a second straight season, but it wasn't for the want of trying as Chris Davies' men were defeated 4-2 on penalties by Leeds United after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the prior 120 minutes.

Daniel Farke's Whites took the lead early in the second half through Lukas Nmecha's fine strike after a lacklustre first period, before Blues took the game into extra-time through Patrick Roberts' stunning effort from 20 yards out.

After the two sides couldn't be separated, Sean Longstaff ended a dramatic contest with Leeds' fourth successful penalty kick in the shootout, whilst Tommy Doyle and Roberts missed two of Birmingham's efforts from 12 yards.

Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United (2-4 pens)

Blues were the side to create the game's first clear chance on four minutes, although Jhon Solis couldn't turn home Doyle's deep corner after making a late darting run.

Jay Stansfield then came mightily close to adding a spectacular 11th of the season in all competitions after the Leeds defence failed to fully clear their lines, with the striker seeing his volley acrobatically tipped onto the crossbar by Lucas Perri.

The hosts' positive start continued well into the half, with Christoph Klarer seeing a goalbound header scrambled to safety, whilst Demarai Gray's first strike of the game was blocked by teammate, August Priske.

Ryan Allsop was first called into action on 31 minutes, with the experienced shot-stopper able to smartly push Sean Longstaff's fizzing effort past the post after the Leeds midfielder found space from 25 yards out.

A smart counter-attack from Birmingham five minutes before the break saw Demarai Gray look for the bottom-right-hand corner after being found in space by Vicente, but the Jamaican found Perri equal to the task. The Spanish winger was then booked for simulation under pressure from Longstaff despite strong appeals for a penalty.

Leeds substitute, Ethan Ampadu, almost forced Allsop into a mishap after charging down a clearance from the Blues keeper, before the Whites took the lead four minutes into the second period as Nmecha escaped the challenge of Klarer before sending a powerful strike into the net in front of the travelling supporters.

Blues were then frustrated thrice as they searched for a quick response. Smart defending from Ampadu initially denied Ibrahim Osman the opportunity to turn down Vicente's wicked delivery which evaded Priske, before Klarer and the Spaniard failed to find the back of the net from close range from the resulting corner.

Osman was able to work his way past United substitute, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, inside a congested penalty area with 19 minutes to go, but the Ghanaian's curling strike was charged down by Sebastiaan Bornauw.

The freshly-introduced Brenden Aaronson looked to finish the contest five minutes later, but his strike was diverted behind by Klarer. James Justin then came close to doubling Leeds' lead with a free header which looped narrowly over the top.

Osman then saw his name up in lights for a third time, but the Blues winger's slip amid a curling effort saw the ball sail wide of Perri's left-hand post. However, the hosts would take the contest into extra-time as Roberts sent a stunning strike past Perri from 20 yards as the Whites weren't unable to fully clear Kai Wagner's corner.

The game would then stretch into extra-time, although Birmingham came inches away from a dramatic normal-time comeback for the ages as Osman's finessed strike hit the post, before Kanya Fujimoto's follow-up was blocked.

The only two chances of note in the first period of extra-time saw the Brighton loanee pass up another close-range opportunity, whilst Jayden Bogle was somewhat fortunate his clearance from Stansfield's cross didn't nestle into his own net in the half's final action.

Piroe was presented with a chance to seal United's passage into the next round with two minutes of the second half of extra time remaining but the Dutchman's angled effort flew straight into Doyle's body. Allsop's impressive stop then thwarted Calvert-Lewin, before the dramatic cup tie was settled by the lottery of penalties.

After a valiant effort in the 120-plus minutes from Blues, they would be defeated 4-2 on spot-kicks, with Longstaff rounding off four strong penalties for Farke's men, whilst Doyle and Roberts were unable to convert for Davies' side.

FT: Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United (2-4 on penalties)

Player Ratings

Birmingham City

Ryan Allsop - 6

Bright Osayi-Samuel - 6.5 (Fujimoto 82" - 6.5)

Christoph Klarer - 7

Jonathan Panzo - 7 (Neumann 91" - 6.5)

Kai Wagner - 7.5

Jhon Solis - 7.5 (Betteka 114" - 6)

Tommy Doyle - 7.5

Carlos Vicente - 7 (Roberts 74" - 7.5)

Jay Stansfield - 6.5

Demarai Gray - 6 (Osman 46" - 6.5)

August Priske - 6 (Ducksch 74" - 6)

Unused Subs: J.Beadle, B.Mayo, W.Burrell

Leeds United

Lucas Perri - 6.5

James Justin - 6.5

Sebastiaan Bornauw - 6.5 (Rodon 91" - 6)

Jaka Bijol - 7

Gabriel Gudmundsson - 7

Ao Tanaka - 7 (Piroe 78" - 6)

Sean Longstaff - 7

Wilfried Gnonto - 6 (Aaronson 68" - 6)

Facundo Buonanotte - 6 (Ampadu 46" - 7)

Noah Okafor - 7.5 (Bogle 82" - 6)

Lucas Nmecha - 7.5 (Calvert-Lewin 68" - 6.5)

Unused Subs: K.Darlow, S.Byram, I.Gruev

Chris Davies reacts as Birmingham City suffer penalty heartbreak vs Leeds United

Reacting to Blues' eventual penalty-shootout defeat, Davies said: "I'm quite proud.

"I think that is a word that I use for the players after the match, but don't use it a lot. I'm thinking, in this context, I'm proud of them.

"I think we should be, because, obviously, there's a tinge of frustration there as well, because we were deserved winners, really, in terms of the overall chances in the match and how we played," the Blues boss stated.

"I thought we should have probably won that.

"I think, naturally, you go back to last season. We played Newcastle at a similar stage, and they came away from us in the last 20 minutes of that match. But today, I thought we were a match (for Leeds) right the way through the 120 minutes.

"We were there to the very end, we had all the grit, fight and determination that we wanted, and we showed that quality in the first half," he added.

Daniel Farke reacts as Leeds United see off Birmingham City on penalties

Reacting to Leeds' progress to round five on penalties, Farke said: "First of all, I have to say really well done and congratulations to Birmingham.

"They made it a difficult game for us, like we expected. A fantastic home performance.

"You could see this team is in really good form, I think eight games unbeaten," he added. "Of course, the stadium was buzzing. Everybody was on it today.

"We, of course, rested some players today and rotated a bit more than we would perhaps do for a league game. But I think it's no question that Birmingham were the better side in the first half," the Leeds boss claimed. They would have deserved to be in the lead.

"We have rotated more than today than sometimes healthy for a group and brought many, many offensive-thinking players on the pitch.

"If you then don't dominate the ball and dominate the game, it could be the case that you are a bit out muscled, and this was happened in the first half.

There were not too many positives in the first half. But, what was positive that, although we were suffering in the first half, that we still found a way to keep the clean sheet. Lucas Perri had one or two really excellent saves, and also was in the decisive moments (where) there was a block or with a rebound.

"This was at least definitely, definitely positive," he added.

"We changed them, our setup in the second half, so we're bringing our catain, Ethan Ampadu in, a bit more physicality, change also the base formation, the way we set up, and by doing this, we want then a bit more step by step, more control over the game back.

"We're better in the pressing, better in keeping the ball.

"A well-taken goal from Lukas Nmecha, but also Birmingham stayed in the game. In the end, it was a very tight, very competitive game."

"It's football. Sometimes they also had, perhaps even too many corner kicks, and out of one, the ball is cleared. But, then it was a deflected goal from 25 yards that went in on 90 minutes. Of course, a sucker punch, but I'm happy that we then showed, again, resilience that could have perhaps decided the game or in extra time, but it was not to be.

"Then we use the penalties, well taken penalties, and Lucas Perri was also there, and again, excellent," Farke concluded.

Attendance

The attendance at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park this afternoon was 28,035.