Sammie Szmodics scored twice as second-tier Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat lowly Wrexham 4-1 on Monday and secure an FA Cup fifth-round clash with Premier League side Newcastle United.
Andy Cannon put League Two Wrexham ahead in the 19th minute but the Championship side responded with two more first-half goals in the space of two minutes.
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Szmodics equalized in the 32nd minute and Sam Gallagher made it 2-1 in the 34th with Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo out of position.
Szmodics then scored his second and fifth of the FA Cup campaign in first-half stoppage time before Norwegian midfielder Sondre Tronstad made it 4-1 with a deflected shot in the 59th.
Blackburn's Danish coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, a former Newcastle player, told BBC television that the Cup always presented dangers for a team like his against lower-level opponents.
“We started very well, we could have been 2-0 after five minutes and then we conceded a goal. But the players stayed calm and then we scored three brilliant goals and dominated the game. It was a great victory,” he said.
Cannon's goal was Wrexham's first real chance of the night and he fired the ball past goalkeeper Aynsley Pears to a roar from the 7,000 Wrexham fans who had made the trip to Blackburn's Ewood Park.
Pears denied Cannon a second goal with a double save three minutes later, but there was no fairytale ending for the Welsh team as Blackburn turned up the heat and swept away the visitors.
Wrexham have gained new global support since film stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over and helped secure their return to the English Football League last season after a 15-year absence.
Those with longer memories will remember Wrexham as a former giant killer, famous for knocking out then league champions Arsenal from the third round of the FA Cup in a huge upset in 1992 as fourth division opponents.
In 1974, as a third division team, they reached the quarterfinals.
“It's a big lesson for us against better quality opponents. You have to be active all the time or they will punish you, and they punished us tonight,” said Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, who was serving a suspension on the wing. “Tonight wasn't the night for us, but we will focus on the second part of the season in the league.”
Wrexham currently sit second in League Two and are chasing a second successive promotion.
FA Cup champions Manchester City secured their place in the fifth round last Friday with a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur.
