Birmingham upset Newcastle 5-1 to advance to the fourth round of the English FA Cup on Wednesday, while in other third-round replays Fulham rallied to beat Leicester and Tottenham downed Cardiff.
League Championship club Birmingham beat 10-man Newcastle, with five different players scoring.
”Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think the team could come here and beat Newcastle in their own backyard 5-1,” Birmingham manager Steve Bruce said. ”We are absolutely delighted.
”We are through to the next round and we have had a really good performance and shown a nation watching that we have got some good young players — and they can get even better.”
Wayne Routledge scored in injury time to give Fulham a 4-3 victory after his side rallied from behind twice, the second time from a two-goal deficit.
Tottenham had goals from Aaron Lennon, Robbie Keane, Steed Malbranque and Jermain Defoe in their 4-0 win over Cardiff.
Birmingham led 2-0 when Gary McSheffrey scored in the fifth minute and then Newcastle midfielder Nolberto Solano diverted a cross from Cameron Jerome into his own net in the 45th.
James Milner scored from 25m out for Newcastle in the 56th, but two minutes later, Magpies defender Steven Taylor was sent off for tripping Birmingham striker DJ Campbell.
Birmingham increased their lead to 3-1 in the 59th minute when a free kick from midfielder Sebastian Larsson came back off the wall and Bruno N’Gotty scored from the rebound. Larsson scored in the 83rd and Campbell added Birmingham’s fifth goal in the 89th.
The two clubs had drawn 2-2 on January 6
At Craven Cottage, Matt Fryatt opened for Leicester in the 13th minute before Brian McBride scored his ninth goal of the season to equalise in the 35th.
Gareth McAuley and James Wesolowski made it 3-1 for Leicester by the 47th minute before substitute Vincenzo Montella scored twice nine minutes apart to pulled Fulham into a 3-3 tie by the 60th.
Routledge cut in between two defenders to score and complete Fulham’s comeback.
”The scoreline was great, lots of goals and excitement, but the first-half performance was woeful,” Fulham manager Chris Coleman said. ”We deserved to go in 2-1 down. But we do not know when we are beaten and the second-half was very good.”
Fulham drew 2-2 at Leicester on January 6.
Tottenham started Keane for the first time since early December, when he injured his knee, leaving Defoe on the bench.
Keane converted a pass from Dimitar Berbatov in the 30th minute, three minutes after Lennon scored Spurs’s first. Malbranque scored in the 41st and Defoe made it 4-0 in the 81st.
”We started well and we played some terrific football,” Tottenham manager Martin Jol said. ”We created a lot of chances and scored some really good goals.”
Cardiff held Tottenham to a 0-0 draw on January 7.
The fourth round is set for January 26 to 27. — Sapa-AP