Chelsea stumbles to FA Cup draw vs. Birmingham

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas came under even greater pressure Saturday after a 1-1 draw against Birmingham in the fifth round of the FA Cup left the Premier League club facing an unwanted replay.

Villas-Boas acknowledged this week that he had lost the support of some players after the west London club slipped to fifth in the Premier League and his team was jeered at Stamford Bridge after it needed a 62nd-minute equalizer from Daniel Sturridge to avoid a humiliating defeat.

"It was a quite poor result of course," Villas-Boas said. "1-1 is not what we were expecting but it gives us another chance at Birmingham to continue trying to win the trophy.

"The aggression was there and the desire and ambition, but I think Birmingham matched us today in that sense."

Second-tier side Birmingham lost captain Stephen Carr to a 12th-minute injury but took the lead eight minutes later when David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic failed to clear a corner kick, giving David Murphy the chance to smash the ball into the net from close range.

It was only the fourth goal Chelsea conceded in 12 FA Cup matches — a streak that includes the 2009 and '10 titles.

Chelsea missed the chance to level the scores when Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle saved Juan Mata's 22nd-minute penalty, awarded when Wade Elliott fouled Ramires, and the team was jeered off at the interval.

There were some cheers when Villas-Boas replaced the struggling Fernando Torres with Didier Drogba at halftime and even more when Sturridge headed in Ivanovic's cross, but the jeers returned when the coach hauled off Mata to bring on Frank Lampard late on.

Later Saturday, Everton hosts Blackpool, Bolton is at Millwall, Norwich hosts Leicester and Arsenal is at Premier League rival Sunderland.