Blues News: Finally a loss

Last Saturday the Blues faced their biggest test of the season to date, a 4th Round FA Cup tie at Newcastle United. They ended up 2-3 losers in what turned out to be an entertaining match, but one tainted slightly by controversy.

The game could not have started out any better, with Birmingham taking the lead just 40 seconds into the game on an Ethan Laird goal. Then things got a bit weird. Newcastle’s Joe Willock equalized in the 21st minute on what was a very questionable decision. Blues keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell (who is one of the weaker acquisitions the team made this season) appeared to have stopped the ball from completely crossing the goal line. The goal was awarded, however. Take a look at this:

Bear in mind that the FA Cup does not have VAR, so there are no actual goal-line cameras. The two opposite camera angles are from the BBC broadcast. Peacock-Farrell is admittedly well inside the goal, but from the left side it is very difficult to judge whether the ball has completely crossed the line. From the right side it looks like it may have done so, if by a hair. But the problem is that the goal was not given by the referee but by the AR. As you can see, the AR is not in a good position to decide. He is not on the line and his view is obstructed by Blues defender Alex Cochrane. You can’t tell from the shot, but Newcastle winger William Osula (who provided the assist), who is well over the line at this instant but was also partially in the way on the play. The AR absolutely should not have made that call.

Anyway, Newcastle went on to take the lead 5 minutes later thanks to a Callum Wilson score. The game got a bit rough from that point, especially on the Magpies side and stayed that way until a stunning Tomoki Iwata banger just 5 minutes before half-time. Things remained tied until Newcastle finally got the winning goal in the 82nd minute, thanks again to Joe Willock.

Newcastle moves on to play Brighton (also in the Premier League), and the Blues’ FA Cup journey is over, albeit on a very creditable performance.

Frustrations were taken out Tuesday, though, as sacrificial lambs Cambridge United – last in League One – were subjected to a 4-0 mauling even with Jay Stansfield missing his second penalty of the game for his first miss all season. Birmingham City now finds itself 7 points clear at the top of the table with a massive +31 goal difference, 6 better than second-place Wycombe and still have a game in hand over Wycombe and Wrexham and three over Stockport County in 4th.

Another double-game week is coming up. The Blues play Charlton Athletic in league play tomorrow (9:00am, as usual, no US TV). Charlton are 5th and beat the Blues 1-0 back in October, so this is not a gimme by any standard. Wycombe play Crawley Town (22nd) tomorrow and Bristol Rovers (19th) Tuesday so can close the gap on the leaders. Wrexham plays at Northampton Town (17th) tomorrow and against Leyton Orient (7th) Tuesday. They too can make progress but are 11 points behind at the moment.

The Blues’ game Tuesday is not a league fixture; they continue in the EFL Trophy against Bradford City (1:50pm, Paramount+). Bradford is 3rd in League Two. This is the semi-final round; the winners go on to play the winners of Wrexham v. Peterborough United (20th in League One), who play a week from Wednesday. If things go according to form, maybe they should play the final in the US.