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Portsmouth vs Birmingham

Last modified 21:57 06/03/10

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As celebrations go, Avram Grant’s were slightly over the top.

He walked off the pitch after ­lapping up widespread applause from the Pompey fans and ­immediately burst into tears in the tunnel and claimed the result was better than reaching the ­Champions League final with Chelsea.

But you can forgive Grant for his emotional outburst. These are dark times at Portsmouth, with the club falling into administration after failing to meet their ­substantial debts.

And it is somewhat ironic that the FA Cup, which brought so much joy to supporters at the height of the spending, should provide a welcome respite from the subsequent financial disaster that followed.

Grant said: “There are great moments in history and this was one of them.

“Is it better than reaching the Champions League final with Chelsea?

“In this moment, of course. You can see the joy this ­victory has brought to people at this club.

“To be honest, in this ­moment I don’t care about administration or anything connected with it.

“All I will say is this team and their loyal supporters deserve to be at Wembley more than anyone. They are the victims here.”

He added: “You can break many things but you cannot break our spirit and I’m very proud of that.” In contrast and despite the furore over a perfectly valid goal that

was disallowed 10 minutes from time, ­Birmingham boss Alex McLeish conceded that the best side won.

“We should have been given a lifeline with a legitimate goal and I wouldn’t have backed against my side coming back from that.

“In the first half we bossed the game and should have taken ­advantage, but we knew Portsmouth would come at us in the second half. And at the end of the day it’s all about scoring goals and Pompey scored two of them.

“I can talk all day about the goal that wasn’t and accept the official should have done better and ­spotted it but I’m not going to make excuses or look for them.”

The home side almost made a dream start inside 10 seconds when John Utaka had Joe Hart at full stretch to save a 25-yarder.

In a pulsating tie the action was end to end with Birmingham looking slightly more threatening.

It took a super save from David James 16 minutes in to prevent Cameron Jerome putting his team ahead with a low drive.

Birmingham’s threat on the home goal continued to increase with James McFadden looking particularly dangerous in and around the penalty area.

In contrast Portsmouth were relying too heavily on long balls to loan striker Frederic Piquionne, whose first touch was all too ­frequently poor.

But Pompey returned from the half-time break ­revitalised as they began to take the game to Birmingham.

Although a succession of ­corners failed to produce a great deal, Birmingham were ­firmly on the back foot.

Utaka almost opened the ­scoring on the hour mark but failed to get much power on his header with Hart seemingly stranded. But it was to take a breathtaking save from Hart to deny O’Hara a minute later as he somehow turned his driven shot round the post with his ­fingertips.

There was no respite for ­Birmingham though as Pompey bore down on their goal at every given opportunity.

Something had to give and in the 67th Pompey took the lead.

Hart collided with one of his ­defenders and as Webber tried to get contact on the ball it ­inadvertently fell into the path of Piquionne, who stabbed it home from close range.

Just three minutes later the Frenchman put his side 2-0 up as he raced on to O’Hara’s though- ball, turned Roger Johnson inside out before firing past Hart.

Pompey looked to be cruising but a moment of controversy ­almost certainly ensured their safe passage to Wembley.

With 10 minutes remaining ­Birmingham had a perfect goal disallowed when Liam Ridgewell’s header clearly crossed the line.

The Birmingham players erupted with fury but linesman Adam Watts, who should have ensured the goal was credited, refused all pleas to rule in Birmingham’s ­favour.

The visitors threw everything at their rivals in a vain hope of ­getting something out of the game.

But in the end it was all to no avail as the home fans finally found something positive to ­celebrate. Like their side’s ­emotional manager, they will ­savour every moment of their trip to Wembley next month.