By Graham Thomas
JAMIE VARDY proved there is life in the old Fox yet.
Leicester’s 37-year-old striker scored the opening goal, proving his instincts are still sharp and his appetite not yet sated.
It was Vardy’s first goal and his first start since November – and anyone ready to write his footballing obituary after a recent knee injury needs a rethink.
Birmingham fans gave Vardy plenty of stick and he blew them a kiss before being substituted.
The Blues’ followers will know their team kissed goodbye to their own hopes by failing to beat Foxes goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, who was brilliant in a rare start.
Yunus Akgun and Dennis Praet netted in the second half to seal Leicester’s FA Cup fifth-round place.
Predictably, with 10 changes made, the Foxes lacked cohesion in the first half and would have trailed by at least one goal had the visitors taken any of five good chances. None of the shots were fired wide, but they were too close to the inspired Stolarczyk, who stopped everything that came his way.
In the space of 15 minutes before the break, the Pole blocked, parried or tipped away two attempts from Jay Stansfield and one each by Jordan James and Keshi Anderson and Siriki Dembele.
The goalless scoreline at half-time felt like a huge missed opportunity for Tony Mowbray’s men.
It must have felt even more so for Mowbray when Vardy put Leicester ahead just two minutes after the restart.
Birmingham allowed themselves to become overloaded on the right, which meant Marc Albrighton had all the time he needed on the other flank to pick out Vardy.
The former England striker’s glancing downward header carried the mark of well-honed repetition.
With 18 minutes left, Albrighton set up Leicester’s second goal for Akgun.
Tom Cannon was unable to get his shot away after Albrighton’s run – but Akgun fired home handsomely from the edge of the box.
Two minutes from time, Leicester added a third as ragged Birmingham were pulled out of shape and Praet drilled past an exposed John Ruddy. LEICESTER: Stolarczyk 9; Choudhury 6, Nelson 6, Coady 6, Doyle 6; Cover 6, Praet 7, Yunus 7 (Raikhy (82) 6); Albrighton 8, Vardy 7 (Cannon (67) 7), Marcal 6 BIRMINGHAM: Ruddy 6; Laird 6 (M Roberts (46) 6), Aiwu 6, Bielik 6, Buchanan 5; James 7, Sunjic 7 (Donovan (74) 5); Miyoshi 6 (T Roberts (62) 5), Anderson 6 (Hogan (62) 5), Dembele 7 (Burke (62) 5); Stansfield 6 STAR MAN: Jakub Stolarczyk – Kept Birmingham at bay with five superb saves that proved a vital foundation. REF: Craig Pawson 7