The FA Cup - Fifth Round
LeicesterLeicester City1BirminghamBirmingham City0

Leicester City 1-0 Birmingham City, FA Cup fifth round: Ricardo Pereira scores late winner

By Emlyn BegleyBBC Sport

Ricardo Pereira's late header sent Leicester into the FA Cup quarter-finals at the expense of in-form Championship side Birmingham.

The full-back guided Marc Albrighton's cross past Lee Camp to settle the tie just when it looked as if extra time was inevitable.

The Foxes - who had not scored in the previous four games - fully deserved their first victory in six matches.

James Maddison had earlier gone close to breaking the deadlock when his 25-yard shot hit the crossbar.

The Foxes will play Chelsea at home in the quarter-finals on the weekend of 21 March.

Form counts for nothing in this one

Birmingham came into the game unbeaten in 13 matches, a run going back to New Year's Day, as they have climbed from relegation trouble in the Championship to mid-table safety.

But they rarely looked like scoring in front of their impressive 5,129 away fans who made the trip across the midlands.

Leicester named a strong team, with Wilfred Ndidi making his first start in a month following a knee injury.

They dominated with 76.7% of the ball, although Ricardo's header was one of only two efforts on target.

Brendan Rodgers' side could have won by more though with Maddison rattling the bar after his shot took a small deflection.

Kelechi Iheanacho had a goal rightly ruled out for offside as he raced on to Maddison's through ball before rounding Camp to score.

Blues' best spell came in injury time when Lukas Jutkiewicz fired over the bar and Harlee Dean had a shot saved. But their cup run is over as the Foxes deservedly move into the last eight.

'It was just a matter of time' - what the managers said

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers told BBC Sport: "It was always was going to be [a tough game]. Their record unbeaten tells you how well organised and resilient they are.

"I thought it was just a matter of time [before we scored]. In the second half we dominated - lots of quick combos and the goal was coming. It was an excellent display. Some real good moments of play against a team who make it very difficult for you.

"The performance was very good. When you go 1-0 up it becomes a war in the last few minutes. We stood up to it very well."

Birmingham manager Pep Clotet told BBC Sport: "We always try. We were not naive. We knew we needed to be organised. We had a solid performance - showed organisation and worked hard. They only had two shots on target.

"That little bit of quality yielded a goal. But afterwards we went higher and tried to get a goal. We fought until the end. I'm proud of the effort of the team.

"It's a massive disappointment to all of us, especially the players. Birmingham deserved to get to extra time with the effort we put in and how smart everyone played.

"That's the difference when you play with a team with such quality. Any chance can cost you a result. We need to congratulate Leicester because they made it through. We're still on the build and we need to keep going."

Match stats - Foxes matching 1969 run?

  • Leicester have won three consecutive FA Cup games without conceding a goal for the first time since March 1969 - the last season in which they reached the FA Cup final.
  • Birmingham were beaten for the first time since New Year's Day (against Wigan), ending a run of 13 games without a defeat across all competitions (W5 D8).
  • Leicester have won each of their past nine FA Cup home games against sides from a lower division, in a run dating back to the start of the 2008-09 campaign.
  • Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers has seen his sides keep a clean sheet in each of his past five home games in the FA Cup (W3 D2), with each of the past two coming while in charge of Leicester (three for Liverpool).
  • Ricardo Pereira has now scored four goals for Leicester in 2019-20 - only Wolves' Matt Doherty (seven) has netted more among Premier League defenders in all competitions.

Line-ups

Leicester

Formation 4-1-4-1

  • 1Schmeichel
  • 21Ricardo Pereira
  • 6Evans
  • 4SöyüncüBooked at 56mins
  • 3Chilwell
  • 25NdidiSubstituted forTielemansat 60'minutes
  • 11Albrighton
  • 26Praet
  • 10MaddisonSubstituted forChoudhuryat 84'minutes
  • 7GraySubstituted forBarnesat 66'minutes
  • 14Iheanacho

Substitutes

  • 2Justin
  • 5Morgan
  • 8Tielemans
  • 12Ward
  • 15Barnes
  • 17Pérez
  • 20Choudhury

Birmingham

Formation 4-4-2

  • 1Camp
  • 5Colin
  • 14Clarke-Salter
  • 12Dean
  • 3Pedersen
  • 2HardingSubstituted forGardnerat 71'minutes
  • 6KieftenbeldSubstituted forMonteroat 84'minutes
  • 34Sunjic
  • 18MrabtiSubstituted forCrowleyat 84'minutes
  • 10JutkiewiczBooked at 80mins
  • 40Hogan

Substitutes

  • 4Roberts
  • 7Crowley
  • 15Montero
  • 20Gardner
  • 27Trueman
  • 44Boyd-Munce
  • 45Burke
Referee:
Jonathan Moss
Attendance:
27,181

Match Stats

Home TeamLeicesterAway TeamBirmingham
Possession
Home77%
Away23%
Shots
Home12
Away8
Shots on Target
Home2
Away1
Corners
Home4
Away3
Fouls
Home8
Away9

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Leicester City 1, Birmingham City 0.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Leicester City 1, Birmingham City 0.

  3. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Harlee Dean (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

  4. Post update

    Attempt missed. Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Kristian Pedersen.

  5. Post update

    Ben Chilwell (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Post update

    Foul by Daniel Crowley (Birmingham City).

  7. Post update

    Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City).

  9. Post update

    Foul by Youri Tielemans (Leicester City).

  10. Post update

    Daniel Crowley (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  11. Substitution

    Substitution, Birmingham City. Jefferson Montero replaces Maikel Kieftenbeld.

  12. Substitution

    Substitution, Birmingham City. Daniel Crowley replaces Kerim Mrabti.

  13. Substitution

    Substitution, Leicester City. Hamza Choudhury replaces James Maddison.

  14. Goal!

    Goal! Leicester City 1, Birmingham City 0. Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City) header from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Marc Albrighton with a cross.

  15. Booking

    Lukas Jutkiewicz (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card.

  16. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Dennis Praet (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

  17. Post update

    Attempt missed. Ben Chilwell (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Ricardo Pereira with a cross.

  18. Post update

    Offside, Leicester City. James Maddison tries a through ball, but Kelechi Iheanacho is caught offside.

  19. Post update

    Attempt blocked. James Maddison (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Dennis Praet.

  20. Substitution

    Substitution, Birmingham City. Gary Gardner replaces Wes Harding.

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