Luciano Becchio earns FA Cup replay for Leeds against Birmingham
Wayne Gardiner
Luciano Becchio was Leeds's saviour once more as his second-half goal against Birmingham kept them in the FA Cup. The in-form Argentinian scored his 19th goal of the season on the hour to keep United in with a chance of making the fourth round, although a replay was the last thing either managers wanted.
Neil Warnock, absent through sickness, and Lee Clark have long injury lists to deal with and could have done without another game, now in the diary after Becchio's cancellation of Wade Elliott's opener.
The goals were the only real high points on an otherwise forgettable afternoon, with clear-cut chances at a premium, although Birmingham could make a case for being the better team.
Already down to the bare bones owing to injuries and suspension, the visitors started well as Elliott, Ravel Morrison and Nathan Redmond all took it in turns from the edge of the box to make Jamie Ashdown work.
It was then Leeds's chance to attack and Jason Pearce's downward header from a Ross McCormack free-kick rebounded off the post, before David Norris was denied by Colin Doyle, deputising for the in-demand Jack Butland, who was rested on the bench.
Despite the low-key atmosphere generated by a lower-than-average crowd, the game continued to offer up chances and Redmond should have done better than miscue when he was played in down the left of the box by Morrison.
The running of Morrison was causing Leeds a number of problems, forcing them to sit deeper and, with 33 minutes gone, they were finally caught out. Elliott ran with the ball from the halfway line and, 25 yards out, fizzed one past Ashdown and into the top-right hand corner for a spectacular opener.
Leeds took a while to respond and threw on El-Hadji Diouf at half-time in a bid to do so, but were not helped by Becchio getting his feet mixed up as he got clear.
Birmingham continued to impress at the other end and Redmond was unfortunate to see his cross-shot after a jinking run loop to safety, and the near-miss came back to haunt City as Becchio found his range on the hour, neatly slotting under Doyle after Norris showed good feet to send him clear.
A nasty-looking injury to teenager Will Packwood then held play up for five minutes, although Redmond should have made their re-adjustment easier when he burst through past Pearce, only to fire wide.