A howler from Blues keeper Richard Kingson and a superb free-kick by Niko Kranjcar gave Portsmouth a well-deserved 2-0 victory at St Andrew's.

Italy's World Cup winning manager Marcello Lippi and former Spurs boss Martin Jol both turned down the chance to take over at St Andrew's this week, and judging by today's performance whoever replaces Steve Bruce has a mammoth task on his hands.

The visitors dominated possession in a game that lacked many clear-cut opportunities, and they always looked more comfortable on the ball against a Birmingham side who went into this match having lost six of their last seven games.

Caretaker manager Eric Black kept Northern Ireland number one Maik Taylor on the bench, giving a first league start of the season to Ghana's Richard Kingson. The debutant pulled off a good save from Croatian star Nico Kranjcar's long-range strike after 15 minutes.

It was an assured start but disaster followed for Kingson when Sulley Muntari's effort on 32 minutes slid under the keeper's body to make it 1-0. Muntari struck towards the post from a tight angle on the right of the six-yard box. His effort should have been a comfortable save for Kingson, but in the event it was an embarrassing howler that will recall memories of Scott Carson against Croatia in midweek.

The Blues had a clear penalty claim denied in the second half, when Noé Pamarot brought down Liam Ridgewell, who was in a scoring position inside the area. The foul looked obvious on replays but referee Martin Atkinson waved away appeals, infuriating Black.

But Portsmouth looked more dangerous going forward, and a second goal seemed inevitable. Sure enough, Pompey buried the match on 81 minutes when Kranjcar struck a sensational free-kick from some 25 yards out. Curled in from the left wing, the ball ended up in the top right corner of the net and Kingson had no chance this time. It finished off a great week for the Croat, following his heroics against England in midweek.

There were no heroes in the Birmingham side today, although Daniel De Ridder continued to look lively and was certainly the home team's most creative player.

Portsmouth hadn't scored at St Andrew's in their last three visits. Harry Redknapp's side lifted the curse decisively today, and in so doing maintained their excellent start to the season. Managerless Birmingham, meanwhile, moved ever nearer to a fight for Premier League survival.

Eddie de Oliveira / Eurosport