Birmingham City 0-1 Plymouth Argyle (aet): Ryan Law strike downs 10-man Blues

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FA Cup highlights: Birmingham City 0-1 Plymouth Argyle (aet)

Ryan Law's excellent goal saw League One Plymouth Argyle knock 10-man Championship side Birmingham City out of the FA Cup in extra time.

Argyle were the better team as Birmingham failed to register a shot on target in the first 109 minutes.

George Friend was sent off for a second booking with 22 minutes to go as Niall Ennis hit the post for the Pilgrims just before the end of normal time.

Law smashed home left-footed in the 113th minute to seal victory.

The well-deserved win against a Birmingham side bereft of any true attacking intent sees Argyle reach the FA Cup fourth round for the second successive season.

Argyle's recalled top scorer Ryan Hardie had the best chances to break the deadlock before half-time as his pace caused the Birmingham defence problems. He pushed a left-footed effort across the face of goal after 15 minutes before Blues goalkeeper Neil Etheridge had to make a smart save as the tried to round the former Cardiff City man 10 minutes later.

Friend - who had been booked just 11 minutes earlier - was sent off after a challenge on Niall Ennis, and a few minutes later the Argyle substitute felt he should have had a penalty when he claimed Teden Mengi pushed him in the back.

Image source, Rex Features
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Referee Rebecca Welch made history as she became the first woman to take charge of a men's FA Cup third-round tie

Birmingham brought on England star Jude Bellingham's 16-year-old younger brother Jobe as a substitute for his first-team debut, but they almost went behind soon after when Jordan Garrick forced a good save from Etheridge.

Ennis then blasted against the foot of the post in the 86th minute and Conor Grant flicked a close-range effort inches wide of the post a few seconds later as Plymouth pushed for a winner.

With both sides tiring, chances became few and far between in extra time until substitute Law picked up the ball midway in the Blues half, took a few touches and blasted into the far corner from the edge of the box.

Chuks Aneke finally forced a save from Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper when he palmed his low effort wide in the second period of extra time, as Blues went on to exit the FA Cup at the third-round stage for the fifth time in seven seasons.

Birmingham City manager Lee Bowyer:

"It's tough going out of the competition, but I take some positives from today.

"We're down to bare bones. I've got a lot of young players making their first appearances and they're the future of the club and they tried.

"We went down to 10 men, played with 10 men for a long time and they kept going until the end, so I'm disappointed that we're out but I will try and take some positives from it.

"Overall I think Plymouth deserved to go through, I try to say it how I see it from the sidelines and they deserved it."

Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher:

"My heart was in my mouth for a lot of it - I didn't think the goal was ever going to come.

"But what a great day for our club and for our fans to come to Birmingham City in the third round of the FA Cup, a Championship team, and put a performance in like that and get into he next round. We're really happy.

"We were missing quite a lot of players and had a few people making first starts for a long time and they slotted right in perfectly into their roles.

"The players were great, they put a massive shift in to go 90 minutes plus extra time at that level of intensity against a team who are in a higher division than us. They should be really proud of themselves."

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Watch five third-round ties live across the BBC including Manchester United v Aston Villa - plus highlights from every match (UK only). Read the full details here.

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