West Ham have the edge in their Carling Cup semi-final courtesy of a glaring error from Ben Foster and a 2-1 win over Birmingham.
Mark Noble fired the Hammers into an early lead in the first leg of their last four encounter on Tuesday, but saw Liam Ridgewell cancel out that effort after the break.
Birmingham looked to be the more likely victors from there on in, especially once Victor Obinna was shown a straight red card, but a horrific piece of handling from Foster allowed Carlton Cole (pictured) to claim the tamest of winners for the hosts.
It was difficult to tell during the opening 45 minutes which of the two sides are currently languishing at the foot of the Premier League table, with West Ham swarming all over their lacklustre visitors from the off.
It quickly became only a matter of time before the breakthrough arrived and Noble was the man to deliver on 13 minutes.
His break caused all kinds of confusion in the Birmingham defence and once the ball broke back in his direction he crashed a stinging drive past Foster from a tight angle.
The visitors were much improved after the interval, though, and drew level on 56 minutes when Liam Ridgewell powered home a header from a corner.
Alex McLeish's men were then handed another boost three minutes later as a moment of madness from Obinna saw him dismissed for kicking out at Sebastian Larsson.
It was, however, to be West Ham who edged themselves back in front 12 minutes from time when substitute Cole scuffed an effort goalwards and Foster somehow allowed the ball to squirm through his grasp and over the line.
Pressure
Avram Grant's future remained a hot topic of conversation prior to kick-off, with even the prospect of West Ham's first League Cup final for 30 years failing to quell the speculation, with some reports suggesting even a win would not be enough to spare him the axe.
Despite Birmingham being only two points clear of the Hammers, manager McLeish was under no such pressure as he looked to lead them to their first final since 2001.
But his team did not start like that as West Ham bossed the first half virtually from start to finish.
Captain Matthew Upson set the tone from the unfamiliar position of left-back, an inspired selection by Grant as he bombed forward at will.
The former Birmingham player even forced the first of a number of uncomfortable saves from Foster, with a rising near-post drive after his own cross had come back to him off Obinna.
At the other end, Craig Gardner side-footed straight at Robert Green from 20 yards and that was as good as it got for the Blues before Noble pounced in the 13th minute.
The midfielder's run and cross found Obinna, whose header was cleared off the line before finding its way back to Noble, who lashed in from the narrowest of angles with Foster's view blocked by team-mate Scott Dann.
West Ham, who thrashed Manchester United 4-0 in the previous round, should have added to their tally before half-time.
The marauding Jonathan Spector's pile-driver was punched behind by Foster, who then produced acrobatics to tip over James Tomkins' header from the resulting corner.
Foster brilliantly pushed Obinna's near-post drive behind following a swift break, before Freddie Sears volleyed Julien Faubert's cross wide and curled over from 25 yards.
Pressed
Dann nodded over a free-kick as Birmingham pressed for the final five minutes of the half, but the defender pulled up moments before the break with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and left the field on a stretcher.
He was replaced by David Murphy during the interval, which must have included a McLeish rocket because Birmingham emerged a different side.
They could easily have levelled when the unmarked Cameron Jerome made a complete hash of a corner from Larsson.
Jerome almost made amends in the 55th minute when his bullet header from Larsson's corner was cleared off the line by Sears, who moments earlier had miscontrolled Faubert's deflected cross at the other end.
West Ham failed to heed the warning and another Larsson corner a minute later saw Ridgewell get in front of his marker to power home.
Obinna then pressed the self-destruct button and, after briefly consulting his assistant, referee Phil Dowd brandished a red card.
Ridgewell might have scored a second but strayed narrowly offside heading too close to Green, while Upson looked lucky not to concede a penalty after shoving over Barry Ferguson.
Grant threw on Cole and Zavon Hines for Frederic Piquionne and Sears before Murphy flicked Larsson's latest cross wide.
The 10 men finally managed a shot through Winston Reid's weak effort and, amazingly, retook the lead 12 minutes from time when Cole's even tamer effort from Spector's cross went through Roger Johnson's legs and under the hapless Foster.
Birmingham replaced the ineffective Alexander Hleb with Jean Beausejour, and Larsson with Nikola Zigic, the latter nodding just wide in the closing moments as the visitors poured forward.
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