Newcastle survived a Birmingham scare in the FA Cup’s five goals thriller on Saturday.
The League One leaders had given their Premier League opponents a massive scare before Willock grabbed an 82nd-minute winner to break their hearts.
Birmingham were on their knees when Tom Wagner bought the club just over 18 months ago.
Relegation followed the ill-fated and ill-advised appointment of Wayne Rooney but the shoots of recovery at St Andrew’s have been clear for some time.
The Blues are on course for an immediate return to the Championship and matched Newcastle in a frenetic game that lived up to the billing for the television cameras.
Joe Willock’s double – including a controversial first goal – helped keep alive Newcastle’s dreams of a second Wembley appearance this season as they edged past battling Birmingham.
Read also: Bournemouth knocks Everton out of FA Cup
The midfielder’s 21st-minute strike, which assistant referee Nigel Lugg adjudged to be over the line, cancelled out Ethan Laird’s 40-second opener for the hosts.
Callum Wilson’s first goal since May, after an injury-blighted season, put the visitors 2-1 up, before Tomoki Iwata’s stunning 25-yard rocket hauled the Blues level five minutes before the end of the first half.
Eddie Howe made nine changes from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final victory over Arsenal, and the Magpies were rattled by a side on an 18-game unbeaten run.
Keshi Anderson, Jay Stansfield and Scott Wright went close as Birmingham demonstrated the rebuilding job done by Chris Davies since relegation from the Championship last season.
The hosts, four points clear at the top of the third tier, almost forced extra time, but Nick Pope thwarted Christoph Klarer late on.
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