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Match Report
Porstmouth v Birmingham 12 April 2004
POMPEY BATTLE PAST BLUES
Portsmouth 3-1 Birmingham
Portsmouth did their hopes of staying in The Premiership a power of good with a superb 3-1 win over Birmingham.
The game will be remembered more for a controversial moment on the stroke of half time, but the incident ultimately mattered little as the home side secured a vital three points as they battle to avoid the drop.
Dejan Stefanovic's goal shortly before the interval had Pompey in front, with Tresor Lomana Lua Lua and Yakubu Aiyegbeni's second half goals sandwiching a Stern John effort for Blues.
Portsmouth, clearly aware of the need to fight, started the game brightly with Eyal Berkovic and Alexi Smertin prompting play from midfield.
Smertin dragged a shot wide on three minutes, while at the other end Bryan Hughes fired wide and Mikael Forssell headed over.
Steve Bruce has lavished praise on keeper Maik Taylor this term and the Blues chief is sure to wax lyrical about the fantastic reflex save the Northern Ireland international produced to deny Amdy Faye what seemed a certain goal when he met Eyal Berkovic's free kick.
Taylor then went from hero to zero when he handled outside the box after a ball came at him quicker than expected. Yakubu Aiyegbeni showed great alertness and followed up to tap into the net.
Pompey's celebrations were cut short when referee Barry Knight inexplicably chalked the goal off and opted to award the home side a free kick.
Taylor was given his marching orders, but it did not appease the Pompey players with Eyal Berkovic having to be pulled away from Knight.
With Taylor heading for an early bath, Bruce opted to throw on Ian Bennett. His first task was to defend the free kick but he could do nothing as Dejan Stefanovic thrilled the crowd when curling a shot into the bottom corner.
Birmingham attempted to repair the damage after the break, with Forssell being denied by a fine Stefanovic tackle.
Blues chased the game but it left them exposed at the back and Lua Lua took full advantage to fire past Bennett at the second attempt after seemingly losing his chance.
Birmingham are made of stern stuff and it was Stern John who gave them hope with a close range finish on 67 minutes.
Shaka Hislop was called into action with a low save minutes later, as Birmingham pressed hard for a leveller.
Once again Blues were caught on the break and Yakubu's forceful run into the box produced a penalty after Kenny Cunningham handled his cross.
It was Yakubu who took responsibility for the spot kick and he made no mistake in sending Bennett the wrong way to secure the points.
Report From  , For full report and stats, click here.
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