Leeds beat Birmingham in a penalty shootout to squeeze into the FA Cup fifth round for the third time in four years.
Goalkeeper Lucas Perri denied Tommy Doyle before Patrick Roberts, who scored a stunning equaliser in the 89th minute, blazed over.
Up stepped Sean Longstaff to score Leeds’ fourth spot-kick from four and send Daniel Farke’s side into the last 16.
Defeat was tough on Chris Davies’ Birmingham side, who pushed their Premier League opponents all the way before falling to only their third home defeat of the season.
The hosts, whose fans applauded owner Tom Wagner as the American continues his recovery from a stroke, deserve huge credit for their display.
And with their cup dream over for another year the ambitious Blues, who are two points off the Championship play-offs, will turn their attention to ending their 15-year exile from the top flight.
Although both sides made six changes, it was impossible to tell which one was Premier League and which was Championship because of Birmingham’s storming start as they bossed both possession and chances.
Perri made a superb finger-tip save to touch Jay Stansfield’s rasping half-volley on to the post from Birmingham’s best effort.
The best Leeds could muster in reply was a 25-yard drive from Longstaff, which was saved by Birmingham goalkeeper Ryan Allsop.
Farke brought on Ethan Ampadu for full debutant Facundo Buonanotte at half-time and the Leeds skipper signalled their new intent when he almost scored, charging down an Allsop clearance.
Leeds duly scored on 49 minutes when Noah Okafor played in Nmecha who fired home his seventh goal of the season at the near post.
The German striker might have been offside, but with no video assistant referee (VAR) until the next round, the goal stood.
Back came Birmingham and they almost equalised as Stansfield, full debutant August Priske and Carlos Vicente all had efforts in quick succession.
Birmingham thought their last chance had gone when Ibrahim Osman fired wide, but Roberts hauled them level a minute from time with a stunning left-foot rocket, which was deflected inside the far post off Leeds defender James Justin.
Birmingham almost won it in stoppage time, but Kanya Fujimoto’s attempt was blocked by Jaka Bijol after Osman’s shot had come back off the far post.
Leeds were not finished but Calvert-Lewin’s shot was blocked and Ampadu blazed over to set up the shootout.
