Leeds United stumble to FA Cup bonus with survival almost secure but Birmingham on track for PL | OneFootball

Before a nightmare run of matches against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, Leeds United were sitting in the relegation places and fearing the worst. In truth, they looked doomed to go down with Burnley and Wolves.

Head coach Daniel Farke, after his job was harshly at risk in the summer, was back under scrutiny and it seemed only a matter of time before Leeds hit the panic button as a Hail Mary to salvage their season, but this was not necessary; they have not looked back since picking up four points against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Leeds have been defensively solid for most of this system, but they were lacking in attack until Farke’s inspired switch to a wing-back system made his side far more threatening.

With Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jayden Bogle and/or James Justin on the flanks, Leeds have breathless energy on the wings and their increased intensity has made them a lot more competitive.

Now, Leeds, unless they face Arsenal, have at least been bloody awkward for their opponents and have kept chipping away at their 38-point target, with the unlikeliest of draws against Chelsea in midweek a fine illustration of why they are increasingly likely to survive.

The West Yorkshire outfit are now merely two wins away from Premier League safety, with Spurs, Nottingham Forest and West Ham looking to be in a straight shoot-out to avoid finishing 18th.

And based on Leeds United’s growth into the 2025/26 campaign, they will surely have no trouble getting the points they require to get over the line and could even enjoy a strong run in the FA Cup, too. This one would, albeit, be a tad fortuitous after the fourth-round tie against Birmingham City.

Leeds do not have the best record in the FA Cup; they have only won the competition once and reached one semi-final in the last 39 years.

Birmingham City, who have invested over £60m on signings since July 2023, were in the way of Leeds United and the fifth round of this year’s competition, with Farke insisting pre-match that he is “a big believer in cup competitions and it is not like we want to go out of this cup on purpose”.

Farke made six changes for the game, and this showed against play-off chasing Birmingham, who headed into the cup tie on an eight-game unbeaten run.

January signing Facundo Buonanotte’s disappointing start since joining from Brighton continued, while Gary Neville’s favourite Leeds United player failed to take advantage of a rare start as they struggled to lay a glove on the dominant hosts during a particularly one-sided opening half.

Birmingham’s confidence was clear as £20m Jay Stansfield pulled the strings and would have made it 1-0 had Lucas Perri not tipped his superb effort onto the bar.

There looked to be only one winner as Birmingham had Leeds on the back foot, but Farke’s side, as they often do, held their defensive shape to deny their opponents and struck themselves against the run of play when their chance came.

The half-time introduction of Ethan Ampadu to replace Buonanotte boosted Leeds, who emphatically took the lead through Lukas Nmecha with a brilliant finish from the edge of the area.

This did not alter the trajectory of the game too much, though Birmingham’s display was undermined by a comical lack of composure in the final third as they were wasteful and looked to be running out of ideas until they had a slice of good luck with Patrick Roberts’ deflected late equaliser.

Birmingham should have won it in normal time and could not in extra time either, with the additional half an hour thrillingly end-to-end before the two sides were made to settle for a penalty shootout that went Leeds United’s way.

It’s 15 years since Birmingham were in the Premier League, but it will not be too long until they are back in the top flight.

The immense investment from the ambitious owners has set up a challenge for back-to-back promotions, and going hit for hit with Leeds United (and deserving to win) will do them no harm as they look to push on for the play-offs during the run-in.

As for Leeds United, their sole aim for this season was always going to be to secure Premier League survival, and they could have the cherry on the cake with the FA Cup looking wide open heading into the round of 16.