FOOTBALL Live

Saturday November 24, 2007 Finished St Andrews

Logo 0 - Logo 2

Birmingham City

Portsmouth

  • Muntari 32’
  • Kranjcar 80’
  1. Troubled Brum slump at home

    Troubled Brum slump at home

    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. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Birmingham City
    • Portsmouth
    • 90 It's all over. Another solid performance from Pompey - they haven't been beaten in the Premier League since losing to Arsenal in early September. And another disappointment for Birmingham, who have now lost seven of their last eight games.
    • 89 Yellow card for Benjani.
    • 88 To be fair to the Blues, they're keeping their "heads up" and running at Portsmouth. But Campbell and Distin look like they've been given fresh legs. It's looking solid again at the Portsmouth back.
    • 86 Muntari's taking the mick with that effort - he shoots at goal from just outside the centre circle, probably in an attempt to force Kingson into another dodgy error. It trickles wide.
    • 84 Half-effort for Birmingham's Djourou - he gets his head on the end of a superb free kick from Daniel De Ridder into the middle of the area. But the header was always going over...
    • 82 Home fans are already filing out (not that there were many of them in the stadium to start off with). Eric Black looks thoroughly dejected. What a great week Niko Kranjcar's having, though.
    • 80 SUPERB GOAL! It's long-range, it's powerful, it's got to be NIKO KRANJCAR! Richard Kingson has no chance with this lethal free kick from some 25 yards out on the left wing, which curls into the top right corner of the Birmingham net. Champagne football!
    • 77 Portsmouth substitution: Matt Taylor ON, John Utaka OFF.
    • 75 DISALLOWED GOAL! Liam Ridgewell strikes a curling beauty from just inside the area - beating David James and hitting the top right of the goal. Shame he was offside when he got the ball. Still, the Blues are creating real chances now and the Portsmouth defence looks tired.
    • 72 First substitution of the day, and it seems Gary McSheffrey has picked up a knock. He's off, and Garry O'Connor is ON.
    • 72 Nafti goes in the book for shirt-tugging on Bouba Diop.
    • 70 Chaos in the Portsmouth area! Excellent work from Blues captain Liam Ridgewell sees him get into the box and have a clear scoring chance, but he's broguht down by a clumsy challenge -from-behind by Pamarot. It looks like a dead cert penalty but the ref's not having any of it. The ball rebounds to Forsell, himself brought down by Sol Campbell. No shot on goal, no equaliser. Lucky, lucky Pompey...
    • 69 Neat passing from Birmingham - De Ridder and Forssell in particular, but the long build-up is wasted when Schmitz can't get to a cross-field pass and the ball goes out for a throw.
    • 68 Still no subs from either side, but surely Eric Black's got to be considering his options?
    • 66 Fierce, low, long-range strike from thirty yards out by Muntari...Kingson makes the save but spills it. Luckily no Pompey player is in sight to follow up.
    • 64 Birmingham can't keep hold of the ball at the moment. It's all Portsmouth - but the visitors aren't getting the breakthrough their possession deserves.
    • 61 The Blues' defence is like a T-shirt left in a moth nest for a week. They're leaving all kinds of holes at the back and Portsmouth look like scoring.
    • 59 Free kick for Portsmouth - Muntari strikes it at the wall but Benjani gets on to the rebound inside the 6-yard box. Richard Kingson runs out and makes a crucial intervention - the ball goes out for a corner. He catches the corner confidently. Looks like he's bouncing back from that disastrous goal.
    • 56 It's a yellow for Birmingham's Gary McSheffrey for "unsporting behaviour".
    • 55 Benjani, who's been quiet so far today, has a great chance to make it 2-0. He breaks into the box on the left and is virtually one-on-one with Richard Kingson - but fires tamely straight at the keeper.
    • 54 Utaka does the hard work down the right, passing Schmitz and teeing up a strike from just outside the area. Then he's let down by his effort which zips high and wide...
    • 52 David James is bally livid with his players for not pushing up the field quickly. He's screaming blue murder, whatever blue murder is.
    • 51 Muntari strikes! His effort is blocked for a corner by Stephen Kelly.
    • 51 Utaka strikes! From inside the area, too. But it sails over Kingson's goal.
    • 47 It's all gone a bit weird at the back for Pompey. David James runs to the edge of his area to head a ball out and Sylvain Distin needlessly gives away a corner when he had all the time in the world to clear. Lucky for them Birmingham still can't string together a dangerous attack.
    • 2 It's a scrappy start from both sides but at least Birmingham have forced a save out of David James. McSheffrey whips in a decent cross from the left and James comes out to smother the ball under his chest.
    • 45 We're away. Portsmouth, in their menacing all-black away kit, kick off.
    • 45+1 And it's half-time. Not the most eventful 45 minutes, but Big Harry Redknapp will be chuffed with the scoreline.
    • 45 One minute of added time is signalled by the 4th official.
    • 43 Birmingham free kick on the right flank. De Ridder takes again, but it's an easy headed clearance for Distin. With the exception of Forssell, nobody looks like creating a decent chance for Birmingham.
    • 40 What must caretaker Eric Black be thinking now? He's got reliable Northern Ireland number 1 Maik Taylor warming the bench, and Richard Kingson doing his best to make Scott Carson look world class.
    • 39 Sean Davis goes into the book for a late kick on Mikael Forssell.
    • 37 Right on cue, David James is tested! A decent, low effort from Forssell requires a good save from the Pompey number 1.
    • 35 Birmingham are getting into third gear. They're pressing for an equaliser and driving forward - but David James hasn't been tested since Forssell's early effort.
    • 33 Kingson did let the ball trickle past under his body, but full credit to Sulley Muntari who sped past the Birmingham defence inside the area and whipped his shot in from the right of the 6-yard box.
    • 32 POMPEY GOAL! What a howler! In his first league start of the season, Richard Kingson lets Muntari's zinging shot slip under his body and into the back of the net. It's a goalkeeping blunder worthy of Scott Carson. Portsmouth are ahead!
    • 30 De Ridder puts in a great corner but Kapo is penalised for tugging Distin, even though it was clearly the other way round.
    • 26 Both sides are struggling to create decent attacks. Pompey's Utaka goes down very easily on the right and is duly awarded with a free kick. It comes to nothing though as Birmingham hoof the ball out.
    • 24 It's getting a bit stop-start with both sides conceding free kicks aplenty. Pompey are still dominating possession, though.
    • 22 Harry Redknapp looks cold and miserable on the Portsmouth bench. Not helped, perhaps, by a long-range effort from Bobua Diop that flies well wide.
    • 21 Kranjcar's having a cracker so far. He piles forward each time he gets the ball and is looking as dangerous as he did in mid-week.
    • 19 So close! Forssell controls the ball brilliantly with his chest inside the penalty area, after a cross in from the left wing. He shoots at goal but David James saves diving to his left. A bit more power and that might have been a goal for the Blues.
    • 17 Kranjcar's effort has woken the game up a bit. Pompey are dominating possession and, to be quite frank, Birmingham are looking clueless each time they get the ball.
    • 15 Shot on goal! It's a superb long-range effort from Croatian Kranjcar, fully 30 yards out. Great save from Kingson in the Blues goal. The debutante will be pleased his first test went rather better than Scott Carson's on Wednesday.
    • 12 Well, there have been a lot of long balls at least, especially from David James in the Pompey goal and Richard Kingson in the Birmingham goal.
    • 11 Superb turn from De Ridder on the right flank but he's clattered down cynically by Diop. Subsequent free kick is a total waste. The young Dutchman is looking lively...
    • 10 It's a free kick from some 40 yards out for Birmingham. Daniel de Ridder floats it into the box but Portsmouth easily clear.
    • 8 Scrappy stuff inside the Blues' area as Portsmouth players try to get the ball on the ground for a shooting chance, but fail. It's easily cleared and we still have no shot on goal...
    • 5 James makes a comfortable catch from a Schmitz cross down the left wing.
    • 4 Sprightly start from both sides, but no shots on goal yet. Glen Johnson just had a pop from the edge of the area, but it ended up closer to the corner flag than the Birmingham goal.
    • 2 It's an early scare for the home side as Benjani - who else? - gets on the end of a long ball into the box. He's penalised for a bit of rough-and-tumble on Djourou.
    • 1 Vast sections of the stadium are empty - perhaps Brummy fans are disappointed that it's Eric Black and not Marcello Lippi or Martin Jol in the dugout.
    • 1 We're away at St Andrew's, as Birmingham kick off.
    • 14:56 Caretaker boss Eric Black will be hoping for at least a point against Pompey, who haven't scored at St Andrew's in their last three attempts. With Kanu injured there's space for Papa Bouba Diop in the Portsmouth starting eleven, while Ghanaian keeper Richard Kingson makes his first league start of the season for the Blues.

  • Team Stats

    Birmingham City Stats Portsmouth
    44% Possession 55%
    4 Shots 18
    2 Shots on target 6
    0 Saves 0
    4 Corners 3
    20 Fouls 17
    3 Offsides 1
    3 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    22 Tackles 21
    186 Accurate passes 258
    45 Bad passes 28

  • 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
    • Birmingham City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      18 Richard Kingson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 2 0
      16 Johan Djourou 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 13 0 1
      5 Rafael Schmitz 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 13 10 2
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 2
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 25 7 6
      23 Olivier Kapo 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 18 8 3
      26 Fabrice Muamba 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 21 1 4
      12 Mehdi Nafti 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 28 5 2
      20 Daniel De Ridder 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 14 0 1
      9 Mikael Forssell 0 1 1 3 2 1 0 9 4 0
      11 Gary McSheffrey 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 14 8 1
      8 Garry O'Connor 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0
      7 Sebastian Larsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      1 Maik Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Stuart Parnaby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      15 Franck Queudrue 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 1 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 21 2 1
      16 Noe Pamarot 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 16 3 2
      5 Glen Johnson 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 25 0 4
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 21 5 2
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 2 0 3 6 0 0 30 5 2
      28 Sean Davis 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 30 3 3
      11 Sulley Ali Muntari 1 7 1 3 0 0 0 31 2 3
      17 John Utaka 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 30 1 1
      19 Niko Kranjcar 1 4 3 1 0 0 0 27 5 2
      25 Benjamin Mwaruwari 0 2 2 6 1 1 1 16 1 0
      14 Matthew Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
      10 David Nugent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      30 Pedro Mendes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 86 Muntari's taking the mick with that effort - he shoots at goal from just outside the centre circle, probably in an attempt to force Kingson into another dodgy error. It trickles wide.
    • 84 Half-effort for Birmingham's Djourou - he gets his head on the end of a superb free kick from Daniel De Ridder into the middle of the area. But the header was always going over...
    • 80 SUPERB GOAL! It's long-range, it's powerful, it's got to be NIKO KRANJCAR! Richard Kingson has no chance with this lethal free kick from some 25 yards out on the left wing, which curls into the top right corner of the Birmingham net. Champagne football!
    • 75 DISALLOWED GOAL! Liam Ridgewell strikes a curling beauty from just inside the area - beating David James and hitting the top right of the goal. Shame he was offside when he got the ball. Still, the Blues are creating real chances now and the Portsmouth defence looks tired.
    • 70 Chaos in the Portsmouth area! Excellent work from Blues captain Liam Ridgewell sees him get into the box and have a clear scoring chance, but he's broguht down by a clumsy challenge -from-behind by Pamarot. It looks like a dead cert penalty but the ref's not having any of it. The ball rebounds to Forsell, himself brought down by Sol Campbell. No shot on goal, no equaliser. Lucky, lucky Pompey...
    • 66 Fierce, low, long-range strike from thirty yards out by Muntari...Kingson makes the save but spills it. Luckily no Pompey player is in sight to follow up.
    • 59 Free kick for Portsmouth - Muntari strikes it at the wall but Benjani gets on to the rebound inside the 6-yard box. Richard Kingson runs out and makes a crucial intervention - the ball goes out for a corner. He catches the corner confidently. Looks like he's bouncing back from that disastrous goal.
    • 55 Benjani, who's been quiet so far today, has a great chance to make it 2-0. He breaks into the box on the left and is virtually one-on-one with Richard Kingson - but fires tamely straight at the keeper.
    • 54 Utaka does the hard work down the right, passing Schmitz and teeing up a strike from just outside the area. Then he's let down by his effort which zips high and wide...
    • 51 Muntari strikes! His effort is blocked for a corner by Stephen Kelly.
    • 51 Utaka strikes! From inside the area, too. But it sails over Kingson's goal.
    • 37 Right on cue, David James is tested! A decent, low effort from Forssell requires a good save from the Pompey number 1.
    • 32 POMPEY GOAL! What a howler! In his first league start of the season, Richard Kingson lets Muntari's zinging shot slip under his body and into the back of the net. It's a goalkeeping blunder worthy of Scott Carson. Portsmouth are ahead!
    • 30 De Ridder puts in a great corner but Kapo is penalised for tugging Distin, even though it was clearly the other way round.
    • 26 Both sides are struggling to create decent attacks. Pompey's Utaka goes down very easily on the right and is duly awarded with a free kick. It comes to nothing though as Birmingham hoof the ball out.
    • 19 So close! Forssell controls the ball brilliantly with his chest inside the penalty area, after a cross in from the left wing. He shoots at goal but David James saves diving to his left. A bit more power and that might have been a goal for the Blues.
    • 15 Shot on goal! It's a superb long-range effort from Croatian Kranjcar, fully 30 yards out. Great save from Kingson in the Blues goal. The debutante will be pleased his first test went rather better than Scott Carson's on Wednesday.
    • 11 Superb turn from De Ridder on the right flank but he's clattered down cynically by Diop. Subsequent free kick is a total waste. The young Dutchman is looking lively...
    • 10 It's a free kick from some 40 yards out for Birmingham. Daniel de Ridder floats it into the box but Portsmouth easily clear.
    • 4 Sprightly start from both sides, but no shots on goal yet. Glen Johnson just had a pop from the edge of the area, but it ended up closer to the corner flag than the Birmingham goal.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: M Atkinson

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Eric Black

    Captain: Liam Ridgewell

    On the Field

    • Kingson
    • Kelly
    • Ridgewell
    • Djourou
    • Schmitz
    • De Ridder
    • Muamba
    • Nafti
    • McSheffrey
    • Kapo
    • Forssell

    Subs

    • Queudrue
    • Taylor
    • Parnaby
    • Larsson
    • O'Connor

    Injured

    • Johnson
    • Melendez

    Suspended

    None

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    On the Field

    • James
    • Johnson
    • Distin
    • Campbell
    • Pamarot
    • Bouba Diop
    • Davis
    • Kranjcar
    • Utaka
    • Muntari
    • Benjani

    Subs

    • Hreidarsson
    • Ashdown
    • Taylor
    • Mendes
    • Nugent

    Injured

    • Primus

    Suspended

    None