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28th Januaryheffield United 0 Birmingham City 4 (Attendance: 18, 072)
Simonsen, Lowton, Jean-Francois (Williams 58), Maguire, Collins, M. Doyle, Williamson, McDonald, Quinn (Flynn 72), Cresswell (Porter 72), Evans.
Subs Not Used: Long, Ertl, Montgomery, Philliskirk.
Bookings: McDonald 79.
Man Of The Match: Richard Cresswell. (see bottom of page)
Birmingham Line-up: C. Doyle, Murphy, Caldwell, Burke (Gnahore 80), Mutch (Reilly 80), Gomis, Elliott, Rooney, Redmond, Spector, Davies.
Subs Not Used: Ibanez, Fahey, Zigic, Valles, Butland.
Bookings: Elliott 80.
Scorers: Redmond 18, Rooney 38, 78, Elliott 58.
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
Sheffield United were dumped out of the FA Cup by Birmingham, beaten 4-0 after a lacklustre performance at the Lane.
Manager Danny Wilson again named an unchanged Blades side, with Ched Evans and Richard Cresswell as the front two in a 4-4-2 formation. The Blues made five changes to their side. Colin Doyle, Morgaro Gomis, Nathan Redmond, Adam Rooney and Wade Elliott came in from the side that beat Watford last weekend.
United started the better of the two sides, although apart from an Evans speculative 25-yard effort, the visitors assumed control and got their opener with a Redmond neat finish on 18 minutes. The pacey 17-year-old found himself unmarked in the United box and helped Jordon Mutch's low corner underneath Blades goalkeeper Steve Simonsen. United were not finding it as easy as they do in League One matches at the Lane, and apart from Evans early chance they in truth rarely troubled the visitor’s defence. Birmingham goalie Doyle failed to gather a shot from Evans after 28 minutes. But ten minutes later they added a second.
Elliott found Chris Burke and the midfield man crossed for Rooney. The Blues striker was quickest and got ahead of Harry Maguire to direct the ball into the top corner of the goal. Burke almost killed the game off moments later, but the Scot's curling effort narrowly evaded Simonsen's right post.
Much like the beginning of the first period, the visitors had to face an early onslaught of pressure after the restart. In the space of a couple of minutes, Cresswell failed to connect with Stephen Quinn's ball across the face of goal, then shortly afterwards, Lee Williamson fired at goal and Doyle blocked with his body, the ball dropped for Matt Lowton and he stuck the ball against the post before it was cleared by Steven Caldwell, and the resulting corner was headed inches wide by Cresswell. Just before the hour mark Elliott attacked the Blades defence and was allowed to rush across the edge of the 18 yard box unchallenged before unleashing a strike from 20-yards that deflected off a United player into the bottom corner.
Marcus Williams replaced Lecsinel Jean-Francois just after the hour mark and then Ryan Flynn and Chris Porter came on for Quinn and Cresswell. But the fresh legs made no difference, as David Murphy's run down the left needed just the slightest of touches from Rooney to guide the ball into the bottom corner of the net. United had been disappointing today, although they had met a top Championship side. At least they know what to expect if they get promoted.
Simonsen 6, Lowton 6, Jean-Francois 5, Williams 6, Maguire 5, Collins 5, M. Doyle 6, Williamson 6, McDonald 6, Quinn 6, Flynn 6, Cresswell 6, Porter 6, Evans 6.
The above player performance ratings are scored out of a maximum rating of 10. A 'Man Of The Match' will still be selected even if several players have an equal highest rating.
These are the standard rules used. (see below)
10: Out of this world - Extremely rare, exceptional performances only.
9: Excellent - Top-class display, probably the matchwinner.
8: Very Good - Outstanding, very influential.
7: Good - Impressive, eye-catching.
6: Average - No major faults, nothing overly impressive.
5: Below Average - Some faults, out-of-touch.
4: Poor - Many faults, easy to criticise.
--: Players must have been playing in the match for a minimum of 10 minutes to receive a rating.
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