Portsmouth's plight is mirrored in their players' shirts, which are sponsored by a job website and manufactured by a company that has since gone bankrupt. The fare they offered on Wednesday night had a similarly bargain basement feel as Birmingham's James McFadden - picture (struck with an injury-time penalty to send them to a second straight defeat.Sulaiman al-Fahim was at St Andrew's, the prospective Portsmouth owner studying the threadbare condition of his latest investment and wondering, presumably, what on earth he has let himself in for. He might have concluded, with chief executive Peter Storrie sitting next to him and reportedly considering other ownership options, that any rivals were welcome to the club.
This Portsmouth side have had the creative heart ripped out of them and in Birmingham they found opponents of limited attacking ambition, rewarded fortuitously by a late penalty. As the ball looped off Younes Kaboul in the six-yard area, David James came to clear with a punch and barged over Sebastian Larsson in the process. Referee Lee Probert debated for several seconds before pointing to the spot, and McFadden dispatched the kick with aplomb.
It was cruel on James, who had made an inspired one-handed save in the 77th minute from substitute Kevin Phillips' first-time volley. Until that point Sebastian Larsson had come the closest to a breakthrough, when he connected with a crisp cross from the left by Gregory Vignal, but the Swede's header sailed over. Jerome remained his typical tenacious self, ruffling James enough for the England goalkeeper to slice a clearance horribly.
Kranjcar tested his luck from long range, but still Birmingham displayed the greater urgency. Manager Alex McLeish sought to inject greater pace in the second half by bringing on Kevin Phillips for Jerome, but it was Joe Hart who should have worried him more, the goalkeeper flapping badly at a Nadir Belhadj free-kick. At the other end James stood tall, save for one costly rush of blood - a bitter end, indeed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment