Newcastle beat Birmingham 3-2 in FA Cup after early scare

BIRMINGHAM, England : Joe Willock bagged a brace as Newcastle United battled back from a goal down after 40 seconds to beat third tier Birmingham City 3-2 at St Andrew's on Saturday and reach the English FA Cup fifth round.

League One leaders Birmingham shocked their Premier League opponents, who made nine changes to the side who beat Arsenal in midweek to reach the League Cup final, when Ethan Laird opened the scoring from the first corner of the game.

In a fast and frantic first half, Willock levelled the scores in controversial fashion.

Goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell parried his shot but the assistant referee flagged that the ball had crossed the line and, with no VAR at this stage of the competition, the goal stood.

Callum Wilson stabbed home five minutes later to send Newcastle 2-1 up but Birmingham equalised in the 40th minute through a long-range Tomoki Iwata strike that gave goalkeeper Nick Pope no chance.

Willock grabbed his second of the game in the 82nd minute to see the Magpies through.