Joe Willock’s brace fired Newcastle to a comeback 3-2 fourth-round away victory against Birmingham City in a hot-tempered FA Cup contest at St Andrew’s.
Willock fired in the 82nd minute winner after he set up Lewis Miley to play Sean Longstaff into the box, from which he fired in from the latter’s cutback pass.
Ethan Laird volleyed Birmingham ahead after 41 seconds from a corner but Willock equalised with a 21st minute strike, which had crossed the line before Bailey Peacock-Farrell punched it away.
Callum Wilson bundled in Newcastle’s second goal from a 26th minute block by teammate, William Osula who had got in the way of Willock’s initial shot.
Tomoki Iwata pulled Birmingham back level with a 40th minute strike from a scrappy Newcastle clearance.
Speaking to BBC One post-match, Willock explained that he just wanted to produce a good performance in a tough season on a personal level for himself.
“I was just trying to give my best. It has not been an easy season for me, I’ve been waiting for my chance to push on and hopefully this is the start of the rest of my season.
“It’s very exciting times. It’s not an easy place to come to, we want to thank the fans. Hopefully we can go one better this time in the Carabao Cup [final] and far in this competition.”
Coming into this match off the back of reaching a second Carabao Cup final in three seasons, Newcastle were brought straight down to earth just 41 seconds into the game after Keshi Anderson nodded a corner kick back into the centre of the box for Laird to volley in past Nick Pope.
Newcastle quickly settled into mounting a response but lacked a clear-cut end product whilst Nick Pope denied Anderson’s 14th minute volley to spare Newcastle’s blushes.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies soon got a slice of luck as Callum Wilson’s 21st minute cross was cut back at the right post by Osula towards Willock, who fired in across the line without touching the ground to equalise amidst confusion from both teams over whether Peacock-Farrell had kept it out.
Birmingham’s daze at the unexpected equaliser soon saw them slip behind just five minutes later as Osula’s shot was deflected for Tino Livramento to cross low across the box, which found Willock whose shot was deflected by Osula for Wilson to scruffily bundle in to put the Magpies in front.
Willock nearly extended Newcastle’s lead with a 32nd minute close-range effort from Dan Burn’s headed pass but the ex Arsenal player was ruled offside.
Birmingham are currently League One leaders and almost showed why they can’t be underestimated in the 33rd minute, yet their top goalscorer, Jay Stansfield flicked Anderson’s cross wide.
Chris Davies’ Blues eventually pulled level before half-time after Iwata pounced upon a clearance and smashed high into the net beyond Pope’s reach, as the tension continued to heat up which saw Anderson and Osula booked following a heated clash in first-half injury-time.
Amidst some early substitutions for Newcastle in the second half, tension continued to rise and Birmingham’s Marc Leonard had to be stretchered off following treatment in the wake of a collision with Lewis Miley.
Stansfield meanwhile found himself booked after he spun Newcastle substitute, Fabian Schar into the advertising hoardings with a tug on the Swiss defender’s shirt, as Birmingham began to fight dirty with old-fashioned tackles and shirt tugging on top of verbal spats.
Karma soon came to hurt the Blues as Willock played a 82nd minute pass across to Miley who teed up Longstaff to scruffily cut back, with Willock having swept around the box to pick up via Osula’s brief touch and smash the ball in beyond Peacock-Farrell’s reach to put Newcastle back into the lead.
Howe’s Magpies eventually survived 12 minutes of injury time to cling on and book their fifth-round spot, with the draw taking place on Monday 10 February at 7:10pm GMT, live on BBC One’s The One Show in the UK.
Howe post-match described the tie to BBC One as “tough” from both a mental and physical perspective but is relieved to progress after coming from behind.
“Mentally, physically – you could see a few players were on the edge today. We’re delighted to get through.
“I thought it was going to be a difficult night before the game. [The early goal] made it doubly difficult because the atmosphere in the stadium totally changed. We managed to get a foothold and did really well. At half-time it was about staying calm. I thought we did that a lot better in the second half.”
What’s Next?
Birmingham turn their attention back to the League One promotion race with a home clash against Cambridge on Tuesday 11 February at 7:45pm GMT.
Newcastle have a week to recuperate and prepare for their tricky trip to Manchester City on Saturday 15 February at 3pm, as the pair continue their push for a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Teams
Birmingham: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Alex Cochrane, Ben Davies, Christoph Klarer, Ethan Laird, Marc Leonard (Willumsson 62′), Tomoki Iwata (Hanley 84′), Keshi Anderson (May 76′), Kieran Dowell, Scott Wright (Bielik 77′), Jay Stansfield (Dykes 77′)
Substitutes: Ryan Allsop, Krystian Bielik, Lyndon Dykes, Grant Hanley, Luke Harris, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Alfie May, Alfons Sampstead, Willum Willumsson
Newcastle: Nick Pope, Tino Livramento, Emil Krafth, Dan Burn (Schar 55′), Matt Targett, Lewis Miley, Bruno Guimaraes (Tonali 46′), Sean Longstaff, William Osula (Isak 104′), Callum Wilson (Murphy 55′), Joe Willock
Substitutes: Martin Dubravka, Lewis Hall, Alexander Isak, Jacob Murphy, Sean Neave, John Ruddy, Fabian Schar, Sandro Tonali, Kieran Trippier
Referee: Matt Donohue
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