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Rediff.com  » Sports » Portsmouth in semis after upset win

Portsmouth in semis after upset win

Last updated on: March 08, 2008 23:27 IST
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Portsmouth stunned Manchester United with a smash and grab 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Saturday to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

Pompey were under siege for long periods but a penalty 12 minutes from time by Sulley Muntari after United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was sent off for fouling Milan Baros gave them a first victory at Old Trafford since 1957.

They can now look forward to a Wembley semi-final, the first time they have reached the last four of the FA Cup since losing to Liverpool in 1992.

"It was the worst draw we could have got but it was a great performance and a great result," Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, who memorably led Bournemouth to a 1984 Cup victory over United, told Sky Sports.

"We rode our luck but United are a fantastic team and we deserved our luck."

Portsmouth managed comfortably enough in the first half with Glen Johnson's headed clearance from Carlos Tevez and a loud United penalty appeal when Sylvain Distin barged Cristiano Ronaldo off the ball their most worrying moments.

After the break, however, they were forced into desperate defence against the Premier League champions with Sol Campbell outstanding at the heart of the Pompey resistance.

INCREDIBLE TACKLE

Ronaldo headed one good chance over the bar and minutes later Michael Carrick looked certain to score when he went past keeper David James, only for Distin to make an incredible last-ditch tackle.

Ronaldo fired another shot narrowly wide and the evergreen James then rescued his side with a superb save to touch Patrice Evra's swerving shot against the post.

Campbell made a timely clearance to deny Nani but just when it seemed Portsmouth would crack, they scored.

A quick kick out by James picked out Croatian Niko Kranjcar and he dragged two United players wide before squaring for the unmarked Baros. He went round Kuszczak, on at halftime for Edwin van der Sar, before having his legs taken and the Polish keeper was shown the red card.

United's England defender Rio Ferdinand took over goalkeeping duties but he was powerless to stop Muntari's cool penalty dispatched into the bottom corner.

Chelsea travel to Championship (second division) side Barnsley later on Saturday while in Sunday's quarter-finals, League One (third division) Bristol Rovers take on Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough host Championship side Cardiff City.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Pritha Sarkar and Sonia Oxley)

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