Watford scored twice in added time to bring 10-man Birmingham’s unbeaten league start to an end with a 2-0 victory at Vicarage Road.
The Blues looked nailed on for a point even though they had lost left-back Lee Buchanan to a second yellow two minutes from time.
That was for a foul on Yaser Asprilla and the sub took his revenge seconds into stoppage time when the Colombian crossed from the right and new boy Mileta Rajovic headed in to break the deadlock with Watford’s first goal in three home games.
There was worse to come for Birmingham as another sub, Ryan Andrews, blasted a second with 95 minutes and 28 seconds on the clock.
The visitors had started brightly, threatening inside the first minute when Oliver Burke’s pass from the right set up Fulham loanee Jay Stansfield for a low right-foot shot from outside the box only for Hornets goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann to save.
Watford responded with a break down the left and, with just four minutes on the clock, City right-back Cody Drameh was booked for flooring Matheus Martins.
The Brazilian’s free-kick was on its way into the net before Blues keeper John Ruddy stretched all of his 6ft 3in frame to stop the ball squeezing under the bar.
There was more early drama as Watford’s Scotland defender Ryan Porteous fired a cross-shot from the right of the box against the far post in the ninth minute.
The Blues heeded that warning to employ a high press to keep the home side at bay. It worked, with Watford struggling to put together fluent moves – even from deep inside their own half.
Just after the half-hour, Watford’s Tom Dele-Bashiru attempted to break the deadlock, surging through midfield before unleashing a shot that flew just over the bar.
Birmingham, managed by former Watford skipper John Eustace, were clearly determined to keep a clean sheet at all costs and two men were booked within three minutes of each other – Buchanan in the 35th minute for flooring Dele-Bashiru and then Krystian Bielik for a foul on Imran Louza.
The first half had been a hard slog for Watford – 70 per cent possession yielded just four shots, one on target.
Home fans were also concerned recently-signed striker Rajovic, a 6ft 3in target man, was getting very little service.
The Dane scored twice on his first start in Watford’s previous match, a 3-3 draw at Coventry.
Two minutes before the hour, Stansfield went close for City with a shot that Bachmann just about kept out with a flying one-handed save to his left.
The Birmingham booking count had climbed to five early in the second half as first Stansfield, for heaving Porteous to the ground, and then midfielder Ivan Sunjic went into ref Keith Stroud’s book.
Eustace also saw yellow but Birmingham sensed they could steal the points, Bachmann keeping them out with a double save from Scott Hogan nine minutes from the end.
Then the roof fell in on the Blues as Rajovic and Andrews struck dramatic late blows.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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