West Bromwich Albion

0-1

Portsmouth

 

Kanu 54

The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Semi-Finals
12.15pm, Saturday 5 April 2008
Wembley Stadium
Winning clubs will receive £900,000 from The FA



Nwankwo Kanu turned from West Brom hero to villain as he scored the only goal of the game, against his old club, and send Portsmouth to their first FA Cup Final since 1939.

West Brom will be understandably disappointed after having much the better of the first half without finding a reward for their toil. And when the Premiership side turned the screw early in the second period, Kanu pounced on a loose ball inside the six-yard box to fire home the winner for Harry Redknapp’s side.

The sun was shining at Wembley and it could well have been The Final as the 83,000 fans, a record for an FA Cup Semi-Final, created a superb atmosphere. The Baggies were bouncing and Pompey chiming, but only one team was destined the return here on 17 May.

It was the Championship side who started much the better and looked far more energetic, keeping Pompey penned into their own half, while giving Milan Baros and Kanu little space to breathe.

Kevin Phillips had the first attempt at goal, a tester from the edge of the box, which David James just watched drift, but he had to be alert when Zoltan Gera had a go from a central position. The Hungarian’s drive troubled James, who could only parry, but Sol Campbell hooked away to safety.

Portsmouth were taking time to get into their stride, they were playing at a slow tempo and their passing was often lazy, too. Baros was their main outlet, playing just between the West Brom left-back Paul Robinson and centre-back Neil Clement, but the defensive pair were giving the Czech striker little change. When he did manage to get free, the flag either went up for offside or a foul.

But it was Baros, a Champions League winner with Liverpool three years ago, who almost carved out Pompey’s first effort on goal midway through the first half. Released into the right-hand channel by Kanu, he cut into the area, passing Robinson, but failed to connect properly with his left foot, dragging his shot off target.

His frustrations got the better of him on 34 minutes when, after using his hand to control a long ball forward, he still had the shot despite Howard Webb blowing his whistle seconds earlier. The ball missed the target, and he was shown the yellow card for his troubles.

David James almost presented Phillips with a chance he’s used to gobbling up when preventing the ball from going out for a corner a minute later. But the stopper pounced on the ball in the nick of time.

Pompey began to impose themselves early in the second half, and within ten minutes of the restart they’d taken the lead.

Glen Johnson delivered a deep cross from the right towards Baros and his chested control inside the box was perfect, helping him beat Martin Albrechtsen before firing across Dean Kiely.

The former Portsmouth keeper was down well but could only push the ball along the goal line. Hermann Hreidarsson sliding in almost forced home, but was beaten to it by Kiely and Robert Koren who turned away from goal into the path of Kanu. It was a simple task for the former Baggies hero, rolling into the unguarded net in front of the ecstatic Pompey faithful.

Baros should have made it two ten minutes later. A threaded ball from Niko Kranjcar, who scored here for Croatia last November, split the Baggies defence. But Baros took one touch too many as he looked odds on to score, and Kiely smothered. It wasn’s a surprise when Baros was replaced by David Nugent shortly after.

West Brom also made a couple of changes, bringing Ishmael Miller and Chris Brunt into the action as they sought an equaliser. Gera did well digging out an opening for himself from 20-yards, only for it to go over the bar, and Koren had a fine shot from a similar distance which struck the bar and spur the Baggies fans back into life.

Miller also came close, connecting well with Carl Hoefkens’ low cross, but the man whose hat-trick in the last round helped West Brom reached the Semi-Final was unlucky to see his effort, the Baggies’ last of the afternoon, skid wide of the post.

The deafening whistles from the Portsmouth fans highlighted their anxiety at the end after Muntari and Nugent also failed to extend their lead. And when Howard Webb joined in, signalling for full-time, their delight at reaching The Final was there was all to see.

Teams

West Bromwich Albion: Dean Kiely, Carl Hoefkens, Paul Robinson, Neil Clement, Robert Koren, Jonathan Greening (c), Roman Bednar (Ishmael Miller 61), Zoltan Gera (Do-Heon Kim 75), Martin Albrechtsen, Kevin Phillips, James Morrison (Chris Brunt 61)

Substitutes: Michal Danek, Pedro Pele

Portsmouth: David James, Glen Johnson, Lassana Diarra, Hermann Hreidarsson, Papa Boupa Diop, Milan Baros (David Nugent 71), Sulley Muntari, Sylvain Distin, Niko Kranjcar, Sol Campbell (c), Nwankwo Kanu (Sean Davis 81)

Substitutes: Lauren, Jamie Ashdown, Pedro Mendes

Match Officials

Referee: H M Webb
Assistant Referees: D J Cann & M Mullarkey
Fourth Official: M Clattenburg

Attendance: 83,584