Man City and Leicester scrape into FA Cup quarterfinals

SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Manchester City stayed on course to retain the FA Cup with a 1-0 win over second-tier Sheffield Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals, while Leicester beat Birmingham by the same score Wednesday.

City could have turned the win into a rout if not for Wednesday goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith, who made some excellent reaction saves but also a costly error to let Sergio Aguero score the opening goal in the 53rd minute.

The Argentine forward’s low shot bounced off Wildsmith’s palm and looped up before dipping in under the crossbar. It was Wildsmith’s first game of the season in any competition, but he stopped other good shots from the likes of Aguero and Bernardo Silva, while Nicolas Otamendi hit the crossbar with a header.

It was City’s fifth straight win, with the last four coming in four different competitions, including the League Cup final victory over Aston Villa on Sunday.

Wednesday had just 20 percent possession and didn’t record a single shot on target. Veteran forward Steven Fletcher could have sent the game to extra time but couldn’t quite stretch far enough to knock in Alex Hunt’s cross in the 81st minute.

Leicester was held at bay by Birmingham for most of the game until Ricardo Pereira headed the only goal of the game in the 82nd.

That ended a five-game winless run for Leicester, which has slid seven points behind City in the Premier League after a poor run since beating Brentford on Jan. 25 in its last FA Cup game.

Tottenham’s last-16 game against Norwich went to extra time after finishing 1-1 after 90 minutes.