FOOTBALL Live

Wednesday March 12, 2008 Finished Fratton Park

Logo 4 - Logo 2

Portsmouth

  • Defoe 5’ (pen.), 8’
  • Hreidarsson 49’
  • Kanu 90’

Birmingham City

  • Muamba 9’
  • Larsson 39’
  1. Pompey put four past Blues

    Pompey put four past Blues

    Jermain Defoe scored twice in the first 10 minutes to send Portsmouth on their way to a 4-2 win over Birmingham at Fratton Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Portsmouth
    • Birmingham City
    • FT That's the final whistle and Portsmouth have a well deserved 4-2 win leaving Birmingham still only one point clear of the relegation zone
    • 90+2 GOAL PORTSMOUTH! 4-2! Substitute Kanu finally gives Portsmouth the breathing space they've been looking for. Mendes finds himself in acres of space on the right wing and picks out Kanu towards the far post, also in acres of space. Kanu opts for a dramatic diving header to put the ball into the back of the net with a bit of style!
    • 90' Three minutes of extra time is announced
    • 86' Portsmouth substitution: Goalscorer Defoe makes way for Lauren with four minutes remaining
    • 84' Muntari decides to try his luck from 25 yards out, after receiving the ball from Kanu, but his shot sails just over the bar. Close enough to worry Taylor though!
    • 80' Diarra brings down Muamba but Muamba's free kick only results in open play as the clock ticks over to 80 minutes
    • 77' Larsson produces a great cross for Jerome to chase and his header requires a brilliant save from James, who is quickly across to tip the ball behind for a corner
    • 72' Birmingham substitution: Forsell is replaced by Jerome
    • 72' Portsmouth substitution: Kanu is introduced to the game in place of Baros
    • 67' McFadden wastes no time in making his mark felt in this match as he draws a foul from fellow sub Diarra. Larsson whips his free kick in but the ever-dependable Campball heads the ball away
    • 63' Portsmouth continue to batter Birmingham's back four with Kranjcar again trying his luck from 20 yards out. Taylor is on hand to deny Pompey some breathing space though
    • 62' Portsmouth substitution: Dioup is brought off in favour of Diarra
    • 61' Birmingham substitution: Zarate is replaced by McFadden
    • 58' Baros appeals for a penalty after clashing with Ridgewell just inside the box. The referee waves play on but tv replays suggest Baros may have had a good claim there
    • 54' Larsson's free kick finds Zarate in the middle of the box but James is on hand to collect
    • 53' This match is nowhere near done yet as Campbell brings down Forsell handing Birmingham a free kick of their own
    • 51' Defoe is still looking for his hat-trick as the ball falls kindly for him with no-one to beat but the keeper. He shoots right footed from the left of goal and send the ball flying into the crowd. He really should have taken that left-footed, it would have been much easier to get on target
    • 49' GOAL PORTSMOUTH! 3-2! Pompey have regained the lead. Muntari's free kick in towards the penalty spot comes off the head of Ridgewell and falls nicely into the path of Hreidarsson to has no-one in front of him and fires home from 6 yards out
    • 48' Murphy brings down Dioup on the right wing just inside the halfway line to hand Portsmouth a early free kick
    • 46' Birmingham get the second half underway ...
    • HT There is the half time whistle and it's been a pretty breathless first half with three goals in four minute before we'd even been playing for quarter of an hour!
    • 45+1 Kranjcar gets one last chance for Pompey but it's from distance again and his shot sails over the bar
    • 45' Mendes takes the corner and tries to swing it in towards the near post ... but once again it fails to do any damage and Larsson clears with what should be the last touch of the half
    • 44' Kranjcar tries his luck from 25 yards out just before the clock ticks over to 45 minutes. But his shot is blocked by Johnson and goes out for a corner
    • 42' Portsmouth seem a little stunned by Birmingham's comeback and are currently struggling to hold on to the ball despite clearly being the better team on the pitch when they do have possession
    • 39' GOAL BIRMINGHAM! 2-2! Larsson whips his free kick round the egde of the wall and into the top left hand corner of the net. Not a great deal James could do about that and Birmingham, who were two nil down within 10 minutes, are right back in this match
    • 38' Forsell earns Birmingham a free kick right in front of goal on the edge of the area after minimal contact from Johnson who, justifiably, is somewhat annoyed!
    • 35' A bit of a delay in proceedings as Dioup receives treatment to his head having collided accidentally with McSheffrey's shoulder
    • 33' Muntari whips his free kick in to the box. A peice of appalling defending by Birmingham sees not a single one of them clear the danger and Taylor is left scrambling towards his right post to turn a rapidly curling ball behind for a corner
    • 33' McSheffrey is not at all happy after being penalised for his foul on Baros that leaves Portsmouth with a dangerous free kick of their own
    • 30' Larsson whips his cross in from the left but Hreidarsson is on hand to hook the ball away
    • 30' Birmingham have a dangerous free kick on the left wing with Johnson being penalised for a poor tackle on McSheffrey
    • 28' Portsmouth continue to spend the vast majority of their time in the final third of the pitch battering Birmingham's back four but they've lost a little of the intensity that had in the opening stages of this match and don't really look like getting a threatening shot off anytime soon
    • 22' Portsmouth have another corner, this time from the right, but again Birmingham have the men back to deal comfortably with the danger as Jaidi heads away
    • 20' Zarate, on the counter, tries his luck again from about 20 yards out, but the ball sails over the cross bar
    • 19' Portsmouth earns themselves a corner but Mendes cross is a poor one and Larsson is on hand to clear the ball
    • 17' Pompey are still looking a bit dodgy at the back and James, with ball firmly in hand, is currently sparing nothing as he yells at them for letting Zarate get a shot off from 25 yards out
    • 16' Defoe, looking for his hat-trick, takes a shot from 12 yards out to the right of the penalty spot but Taylor seems to be settling down a little now and manages to collect the ball without too much trouble
    • 15' Portsmouth are back on the attack once more as Dioup misses the target just to the left with his header from the penalty spot
    • 14' Zarate receives the first yellow card of the night as he is booked for a foul on Defoe
    • 9' GOAL BIRMINGHAM! 2-1! If ever you wanted to see the definition of end to end action this would be it! Birmingham earn themselves a corner straight from the restart. Larsson swings the ball in towards Ridgewell who heads on to the far post where Muamba is fast approaching to deflect the ball into the back of the net with his left foot
    • 8' GOAL POMPEY! 2-0! This are just going from bad to worse for Birmingham as Defoe grabs his second in just three minutes. Muntari causes all the trouble racing down the left side of the box. His shot is parried, where is falls for Baros whose shot is also parried, albeit this time towards the penalty spot ... where Defoe is waiting to tap the ball home with ease
    • 5' GOAL POMPEY! 1-0! Jermain Defoe continues his run of great form for Portsmouth smacking his penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net after sending the keeper diving to his right!
    • 5' Baros has earned his side a penalty taking the ball past Ridgewell on the right side of the box before seeing his cross turned behind by Murphy's left hand
    • 4' Muntari is the one to take the free kick but it's a poor one and Birmingham have the numbers back to head the ball to safety
    • 3' Portsmouth already are all over the struggling Birmingham as Dioup earns his side a free kick after tumbling to the ground during a clash with Muamba
    • 1' Portsmouth get the match underway ...
    • 19:44 The players are just making their way out onto the pitch with play scheduled to get underway in a couple of minutes time
    • 19:44 Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of Portsmouth's Premier League clash with Birmingham

  • Team Stats

    Portsmouth Stats Birmingham City
    56% Possession 43%
    14 Shots 10
    9 Shots on target 5
    2 Saves 1
    4 Corners 3
    10 Fouls 9
    3 Offsides 1
    0 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    33 Tackles 33
    313 Accurate passes 215
    66 Bad passes 79

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 22 2 3
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 34 16 3
      5 Glen Johnson 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 34 0 6
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 21 2 0
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 19 0 2
      30 Pedro Mendes 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 56 13 5
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 36 12 4
      11 Sulley Ali Muntari 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 32 14 4
      9 Milan Baros 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 15 2 2
      14 Jermain Defoe 2 3 2 1 1 2 0 14 3 0
      17 John Utaka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      6 Lassana Diarra 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 15 1 4
      4 Bisan Lauren 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      27 Nwankwo Kanu 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 1 0
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Birmingham City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Maik Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      24 Radhi Jaidi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 3 3
      14 David Murphy 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 27 20 3
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 0 3
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 18 6 0
      22 Damien Johnson 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 30 3 6
      26 Fabrice Muamba 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 21 9 8
      7 Sebastian Larsson 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 22 2 3
      19 Mauro Zárate 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 13 3 0
      9 Mikael Forssell 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 11 2 1
      11 Gary McSheffrey 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 29 23 6
      13 Colin Doyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      12 Mehdi Nafti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Cameron Jerome 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 2 0
      21 Stuart Parnaby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 James McFadden 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 6 0

  • Summary

    • 90+2 GOAL PORTSMOUTH! 4-2! Substitute Kanu finally gives Portsmouth the breathing space they've been looking for. Mendes finds himself in acres of space on the right wing and picks out Kanu towards the far post, also in acres of space. Kanu opts for a dramatic diving header to put the ball into the back of the net with a bit of style!
    • 84' Muntari decides to try his luck from 25 yards out, after receiving the ball from Kanu, but his shot sails just over the bar. Close enough to worry Taylor though!
    • 77' Larsson produces a great cross for Jerome to chase and his header requires a brilliant save from James, who is quickly across to tip the ball behind for a corner
    • 49' GOAL PORTSMOUTH! 3-2! Pompey have regained the lead. Muntari's free kick in towards the penalty spot comes off the head of Ridgewell and falls nicely into the path of Hreidarsson to has no-one in front of him and fires home from 6 yards out
    • 39' GOAL BIRMINGHAM! 2-2! Larsson whips his free kick round the egde of the wall and into the top left hand corner of the net. Not a great deal James could do about that and Birmingham, who were two nil down within 10 minutes, are right back in this match
    • 33' Muntari whips his free kick in to the box. A peice of appalling defending by Birmingham sees not a single one of them clear the danger and Taylor is left scrambling towards his right post to turn a rapidly curling ball behind for a corner
    • 9' GOAL BIRMINGHAM! 2-1! If ever you wanted to see the definition of end to end action this would be it! Birmingham earn themselves a corner straight from the restart. Larsson swings the ball in towards Ridgewell who heads on to the far post where Muamba is fast approaching to deflect the ball into the back of the net with his left foot
    • 8' GOAL POMPEY! 2-0! This are just going from bad to worse for Birmingham as Defoe grabs his second in just three minutes. Muntari causes all the trouble racing down the left side of the box. His shot is parried, where is falls for Baros whose shot is also parried, albeit this time towards the penalty spot ... where Defoe is waiting to tap the ball home with ease
    • 5' GOAL POMPEY! 1-0! Jermain Defoe continues his run of great form for Portsmouth smacking his penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net after sending the keeper diving to his right!

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Steve Tanner

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    On the Field

    • James
    • Johnson
    • Campbell
    • Distin
    • Hreidarsson Goal
    • Muntari
    • Bouba Diop Substitution Out (62′)
    • Mendes
    • Kranjcar
    • Baros Substitution Out (72′)
    • Defoe Goal Substitution Out (86′)

    Subs

    • Lauren Substitution In (86′)
    • Kanu Substitution In (72′) Goal
    • Ashdown
    • Utaka
    • Diarra Substitution In (62′)

    Injured

    • Pamarot
    • Primus
    • Hughes
    • Nugent

    Suspended

    None

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Alex McLeish

    Captain: Liam Ridgewell

    On the Field

    • Taylor
    • Kelly
    • Ridgewell
    • Jaidi
    • Murphy
    • Larsson Goal
    • Muamba Goal
    • Johnson
    • McSheffrey
    • Forssell Substitution Out (72′)
    • Zarate Yellow Card Substitution Out (61′)

    Subs

    • Nafti
    • Parnaby
    • McFadden Substitution In (61′)
    • Doyle
    • Jerome Substitution In (72′)

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    • Taylor