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.
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.
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Source – BBC
