"Blues overcame Rochdale, MK Dons and Brentford - all in the EFL's basement divisions, before defeating Aston Villa in a hotly-contested quarter-final at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park. They then completed a dramatic turnaround in the semi-finals against West Ham United, winning 4-3 on aggregate after overcoming a 2-1 first leg defeat with a 3-1 success in B9 to set up the Wembley date with the North London giants."
"What unfolded throughout the following 90 minutes will be forever remembered by Bluenoses, with February 27th dubbed 'Obafemi Martins day' as a result of the Nigerian's last-gasp winner after Robin van Persie had initially cancelled out Nikola Zigic's opener for Blues in the first half."
"It was also the first time Birmingham had featured in a major final for 10 years, having previously lost out on penalties to Liverpool in the same competition at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium as a Championship side."
Birmingham City reached the EFL Cup final in February 2011 at the new Wembley Stadium, facing Arsenal who had not won a trophy in six years. As clear underdogs against a Premier League title contender, Birmingham progressed through the competition by defeating lower-division sides Rochdale, MK Dons, and Brentford, then overcame Aston Villa in the quarter-final and West Ham United in the semi-finals with a dramatic 4-3 aggregate victory. In the final, Nikola Zigic opened the scoring for Birmingham, but Robin van Persie equalized. Obafemi Martins secured a last-gasp winner, giving Birmingham their first major trophy in a decade and their finest moment in recent history.
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