Magpie Edge Blues from the FA Cup Thriller
Newcastle secured a 3-2 victory to advance in the FA Cup, past Birmingham in a match at St Andrews.
The hosts took the lead in less than a minute via Ethan Laird, with Joe Wilk and Calm Wilson returning their ties to Magpie favors.
Iwata-ke then drew Birmingham levels just before halftime, but Will Rock’s second half meant a progression for the Premier League side.
Eddie Howe made nine changes to the side that beat Arsenal in Game 2 of the EFL Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night.
The horns of Birmingham nodded back to the center, and Laird was on hand to return home via deflection off Wilson.
St Andrews bouncing off, and the home side went 2-0 after 14 minutes courtesy of another set piece.
Mark Leonard’s free kick was helped by Alex Cochran for Poppy Anderson, and his beautifully timing volley from the edge of his area brought a great one-handed save from Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope Ta.
Apparently scattered and teethless in the early part of the opening period, Newcastle carved a controversial equalizer from the first attack.
For the fifth round! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/tnon4q0jkn
– Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 8, 2025
Wilson crossed from the left and after William Osla pulled it back on the far post, Willuck stabbed Bailey Peacock Farrell from behind the line to stab the ball into the golder.
The assistant referee decided that the ball was in, despite the inconclusive replay.
Again there was an element of confusion about it, as Wilson’s first efforts from the cross of Tino Libramento were blocked by Osla’s own man.
The home side wobbled, and the same auxiliary umpire who had previously angered them came to the rescue, correctly filtering out the goal of the offside Willuck.
Anderson escaped the left and whipped on the perfect cross for Jay Stansfield, but the 15 million pound striker planted the header widely from six yards when not marked at all.
Scott Wright should have worn his efforts straight out of the pope after a good job from Iwata, and forced the Japanese midfielder to take matters into his own hands in a few minutes.
Get in! 👊 pic.twitter.com/wsoikbhipa
– Newcastle United (@NUFC) February 8, 2025
Newcastle was able to partially clear the cross from Birmingham’s left, and Iwata latched into a loose ball and fired a stunning shot into the roof of the net from 25 yards.
The second period began with Newcastle continuing to insist on control, control ownership and pinned the host. However, a series of outages disrupted the flow, including Leonard’s long delays in Birmingham.
Once play resumed, both teams struggled to carve out clear opportunities amidst increasingly crude events. The match became more physical and as tensions rose, gusts of yellow cards were issued on each side.
Despite Birmingham’s efforts to advance, Newcastle found a breakthrough in 82 minutes. Starting the move, Wilk continued running and regained the visitor’s lead by taking advantage of his lucky deflection to slot the ball under the Peacock Farrell.
Birmingham fought hard to respond, firing a long ball forward at the last moment and pushing it high. The dramatic clearance of the line by Dowell denied a decisive goal for Murphy, but Nick Pope produced a key save to maintain Newcastle’s advantages as the downtime increased over 12 minutes .
Despite their energetic fight, Birmingham ultimately fell short, and Newcastle’s Premier League quality glowed in the second half of a rough, fierce battle that saw them progress into the next round.