Lee Chung-Yong was Bolton's hero as Wanderers secured their place in the FA semi-finals with a 3-2 win at Birmingham.
Trotters leave it late to win five-goal thriller at St Andrews
Lee Chung-Yong was Bolton's hero as Wanderers secured their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a thrilling 3-2 success over Birmingham at St Andrews.
After a tepid start to the contest it burst into life on 21 minutes when Ivan Klasnic's clever flick found Johan Elmander and he lashed an unstoppable effort past Ben Foster.
Things went from bad to worse with manager Alex McLeish making two quick-fire changes with both Barry Ferguson and Martin Jiranek forced from the field of play with injuries.
However, the home side were back on level terms before half time when Cameron Jerome lashed the ball home past Jussi Jaaskelainen at his near post following a poor David Wheater clearance.
Bolton were back in front on 66 minutes when Kevin Davies converted from the penalty spot after being fouled by Curtis Davies just moments after having an effort ruled out for offside.
Just when it looked like a second equaliser could be out of reach for McLeish's men an instinctive strike from Phillips found the back of the net as he lofted a first-time shot over Jaaskelainen from distance.
However, there was a final sting in the tail when substitute Lee headed home in the closing stages after being unselfishly picked out by Davies.
First attempt
Former Birmingham midfielder Fabrice Muamba had the first attempt on goal but his low drive did not trouble Foster.
Blues started to get a foothold in the game and Jaaskelainen had to grab hold of a Davies header from Sebastian Larsson's inswinging free-kick.
Martin Petrov found himself in yards of space on the left of the Birmingham box but his shot was blocked by Stuart Parnaby.
Jerome's pace took him behind the Bolton defence when running onto Larsson's pass but his first touch was woeful.
Gretar Steinsson became the first player to be booked after 20 minutes for bringing down Phillips.
A minute later Elmander put Bolton in front. Muamba won the ball in the air and Klasnic's flick-on let in Elmander who was unchallenged by Davies and Jiranek before he drilled a low left-footed shot past Foster.
Birmingham suffered a double setback with Ferguson and Jiranek both limping out of the action to be replaced by Liam Ridgewell and Nathan Redmond.
Jean Beausejour, on target in the last two games, had a shot deflected for a corner after good play by David Murphy.
Jaaskelainen came racing out of his area to clear from Jerome. But after 38 minutes the striker brought Birmingham back on level terms.
The former Cardiff player won the ball in the air and Wheater's clearance dropped back into his path. Jerome needed no second invitation to hammer a low shot past Jaaskelainen and into the corner of the net.
Appealed
Birmingham started the second period in confident mood and appealed in vain for a penalty when Jaaskelainen came to the edge of his box and challenged Jerome after a fine pass from Redmond.
But referee Phil Dowd, who was up with play, opted to award a corner much to the anger of the home fans.
Bolton substitute Lee came to Bolton's rescue when he cleared off the line from Murphy following a corner by Larsson.
Davies had the ball in the net after 64 minutes but was clearly offside. A minute later, the Bolton striker restored his side's lead.
He was brought down in the box by Blues defender Davies and got up to send Foster the wrong way from the spot.
Phillips came close to equalising when his shot from a narrow angle crashed against the post with Jaaskelainen beaten.
The game was now wide open and Foster produced a fine save to deny Elmander after he broke clear of the home defence.
Then with 10 minutes left a superb strike by Phillips brought Birmingham level. Redmond won the ball in the air and Phillips turned on the edge of the box and volleyed over Jaaskelainen.
With a minute left Lee sent the 4,300 Bolton fans wild with delight as his header beat Foster to settle the tie.
| Birmingham City |
Team Statistics |
Bolton Wanderers |
| 2 |
Goals |
3 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 6 |
Corners |
4 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
19 |
| 2 |
Offsides |
3 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 58.2 |
Passing Success |
65.3 |
| 19 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 57.9 |
Tackles Success |
66.7 |
| 45.9 |
Possession |
54.1 |
| 49.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
50.1 |
|
