Birmingham City went toe-to-toe with Premier League powerhouse Newcastle United before succumbing to an 82nd minute winner from Joe Willock to bow out of the FA Cup.

Blues took the lead through Ethan Laird before Willock and Callum Wilson turned the game on its head in a riveting first half. Tomoki Iwata had the last word before half-time with a stupendous strike to draw Blues level.

But Newcastle’s quality showed in the second half, with Eddie Howe able to bring on Italy international Sandro Tonali and in-form forward Jacob Murphy, before Willock struck the decisive blow with eight minutes of normal time remaining.

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The red-hot atmosphere inside St Andrew’s gave Blues an early leg up. Within 43 seconds, Laird had put the cat amongst the Magpies. Kieran Dowell’s deep delivery from a corner was cushioned back into the dangerzone by Keshi Anderson and Laird thumped the ball home.

Another set-piece almost resulted in Blues doubling their lead inside 15 minutes. Marc Leonard floated a free-kick from deep in the direction of Christoph Klarer who nodded down for Anderson to produce a volley that Nick Pope did very well to keep out.

Newcastle fought their way back into the contest to equalise in the 21st minute through Willock. The ball dropped kindly to Willock inside the area and, although Bailey Peacock-Farrell appeared to have kept his shot out, the assistant referee on the far side flagged frantically to say the ball had crossed the line. The referee awarded Newcastle the goal.

Willock was in the vicinity five minutes later when Newcastle forced the ball home again. He didn’t get the all-important touch this time, with Wilson prodding the ball over the line far more conclusively after Tino Livramento’s cross from the right had caused havoc inside Blues’ six-yard box.

Barely another five minutes had passed before Willock clipped the ball over Peacock-Farrell again after latching onto Dan Burn’s flick-on. The assistant referee raised his flag for offside to spare Blues’ blushes on this occasion.

Jay Stansfield had the chance to draw Blues level when the excellent Anderson picked him out in the middle with a pinpoint left-wing cross. The goal was gaping for Stansfield, six yards out, but he failed to make the right connection and shouldered the ball wide.

A pulsating first half hit a new high in the 40th minute when Iwata quite possibly ended Blues’ goal of the season competition. The ball dropped invitingly for the Japanese midfielder 20 yards out and he leathered it into the roof of Newcastle’s net to draw Blues level. Iwata has scored some screamers this season, but none compare to this scorcher at St Andrew’s.

The second half wasn’t as frantic as the first and there were few chances before Newcastle regained the lead eight minutes from time. Sean Longstaff’s shot was blocked by Ben Davies but the ball fell invitingly to Willock who finished underneath Peacock-Farrell.

Blues rallied and almost equalised from their next attack. Dowell’s corner was met by a clutch of Blues players at the far post, including substitute Alfie May, but Pope reacted sharply to keep the ball out of his net.

There were glimpses of goal for Blues in the closing stages, with a pot-shot from May and the odd foray forward from Laird, but Newcastle held on to book their place in round five. The full-time whistle saw St Andrew's rise as one to show their appreciation for their heroes who ran the team currently sixth in the Premier League close for 90 minutes.

Bailey Peacock-Farrell 7

Peacock-Farrell was perhaps a tad unfortunate with Newcastle’s opener and didn’t stand much chance with the second and third. A lot of people wanted Ryan Allsop to start this match, but Peacock-Farrell justified his selection.

Ethan Laird 9*

Ex-Manchester United starlet Laird is a Premier League athlete and more than matched his Newcastle counterparts. The right-back bounded forward relentlessly throughout and left his mark on the cup tie with the opening gambit.

Christoph Klarer 9

Klarer produced an important block to thwart Wilson early on and relished the challenge of marking the England international. Other than allowing himself to be exposed by Willock once in the second half, which resulted in a yellow card for a cynical challenge, Klarer was superb.

Ben Davies 9

The on-loan Rangers man put his body on the line for the cause and defended well alongside Klarer. He was unlucky to see what was a good piece of defending to thwart Longstaff result in the perfect set up for Willock’s winner. Another sterling piece of defending saw Davies clear off the line from Murphy in stoppage time.

Alex Cochrane 8

There’s a nastiness and competitiveness to Cochrane that Blues fans have become accustomed to in their left-backs over the years. Cochrane was solid against Newcastle.

Tomoki Iwata 9

Iwata has 12 career goals to his name before joining Blues in August, he has scored seven this season – and almost all of them have been superb strikes. None more so than this one against Newcastle in a game where Iwata demonstrated why Chris Davies believes he has Premier League potential.

Marc Leonard 8

The Scot battled away in midfield and used the ball well under intense pressure from Newcastle. Leonard was unfortunate to be on the receiving end of a nasty challenge from Miley and could now face a spell out.

Scott Wright 8

Wright carried the ball effectively to drag Blues up the field in the first half and although he faded after half-time, the winger played an important role in a tremendous team performance.

Kieran Dowell 8.5

There is no doubting Dowell’s talent three starts into his Blues career. He offered invention and creativity going forward and was willing to put a shift in defensively.

Keshi Anderson 9

Anderson showed finesse to set up Laird for the opener and handed Stansfield a glorious chance in the first half that wasn’t taken. It was a superb performance from Anderson who is Blues’ most improved player from last season.

Jay Stansfield 8.5

Stansfield seemed energised by the big occasion and, dare I say it, looked every inch a Premier League talent up against a top-tier side. The only blotch on an excellent performance was his gilt-edged miss minutes before Iwata made it 2-2.

SUBS

Willum Willumsson (for Leonard, 62) 6

The Icelandic looked a tad rusty at times, which is to be expected on his comeback from injury, and wasn’t able to sprinkle quality on proceedings.

Krystian Bielik (for Wright, 77) 6

Needs must in midfield for Blues right now and Bielik, who Davies sees as a centre-back, filled in after an injury to Leonard.

Lyndon Dykes (for Anderson, 77) 6

Dykes has been a star of Blues’ FA Cup run with strikes against Blackpool and Lincoln but he couldn’t add to it against Premier League opposition.

Alfie May (for Stansfield, 77) 6

There were sights of goal for May but it wasn’t to be for Blues’ number nine on his latest cameo.

Grant Hanley (for Iwata, 84) N/A

Not used: Allsop, Sampsted, Harris, Jutkiewicz

Attendance: 27,994

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