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



90+4

The referee blows for full-time and Portsmouth have made it through to The FA Cup Final.

90

The attendance is announced, with a record crowd of 83,584 for an FA Cup Semi-Final.

89

Hoefkens wins a corner for West Brom, it's hit deep to the far post where Koren and Robinson fail to give

84

Robert Koren feeds Carl Hoefkens on the right flank, and the full-back drives his cross to Ishmael Miller who goes within a whisker of an equaliser.

82

Niko Kranjcar intercepts a slack pass from the West Brom backline and plays Nugent through on goal, but his shot is straight at Dean Kiely and Neil Clement clears the danger.

81' Goalscorer Nwankwo Kanu is replaced by Sean Davis.

78

Ishmael Miller beats former Man City teammate Sylvain Distin to the ball and drives towards goal, but his cross towards strike partner Kevin Phillips is cut out by David James. It's an end-to-end Cup tie now.

76

Sulley Muntari weaves his way through three West Brom defenders before driving his shot narrowly wide of the far post.

75' Do-Heon Kim comes on for Zoltan Gera.

74

Robert Koren is picked out on the edge of the box after some fine forward play from Miller and Phillips. Koren strikes it well, and James is beaten, but the effort thunders off the bar and over for a goal kick.

71' David Nugent replaces Milan Baros up front.

69

Zoltan Gera fires a long range effort, but the shot is always rising and fails to trouble David James.

66

An incredible miss from Baros with the goal gaping. Played clean through by Kranjcar he takes three touches giving Kiely the opportunity to smother the ball and concede a corner.

63

Glen Johnson shows great pace and attacking intent as he drives at Paul Robinson, the England full-back then powers a low cross which is dangerous but an absence of Pompey forwards means Kiely can breath again.

61' Roman Bednar comes off for Ishmael Miller.

61' James Morrison is replaced by Chris Brunt.

57

Sulley Muntari breaks free on the left flank for Pompey, he picks out Kranjcar but the Croatian is leaning back and skews his effort out for a throw-in.

54

GOAL! Milan Baros shoots only for Dean Kiely to palm the ball into the path of the grateful Nwankwo Kanu

48

Milan Baros finds space in the penalty area, but Robinson dives in at the last minute to steal the ball from under his feet and give Pompey a corner.

Well here we go then - the second half live from Wembley.

45+1

Howard Webb blows his whistle for half-time with the match all-square at the interval. With a place in The FA Cup Final at stake, both sides are understandably nervous about taking risks.

43

Portsmouth break clear after Muntari steals the ball from Greening, but he dwells on the ball too long and Robinson takes possession for West Brom.

41

Diop rises to head on to Kanu, his delightful flick plays Baros in on goal but the Czech striker fails to reach the ball when the goal was loming.

39

Hreidarsson and Kranjcar are not on the same wavelength as the defender tries to scoop a pass out to the Croatian midfielder, the ball runs out for a West Brom throw-in.

36

David James almost presents Kevin Phillips with a gift of a goal, catching a Glen Johnson header James loses his grip on the ball only to steal it from the feet of Phillips at the crucial moment.

(35 minutes) Milan Baros handles a long pass from Sully Muntari, and after Howard Webb awards a free-kick he shoots and receives a yellow card

31

Hermann Hreidarsson is unhappy after West Brom are awarded a free-kick, the Pompey defender fouls Zoltan Gera.

28

Kanu wins a free-kick after losing his balance under pressure from Neil Clement, Kranjcar eyes another goal at Wembley from similar distance, but Muntari strikes it into Kiely's hands.

24

Baros steals free on the flank, this time escaping the attentions of Robinson, and he turns onto his left foot only to drag the effort and leave an easy safe  for Kiely.

20

Milan Baros shoulder-barges Paul Robinson on the touchline and heads towards goal, only for the assistant referee to flag for a foul and West Brom survive.

16

Niko Kranjcar takes a deep free-kick from the left wing, but Sol Campbell is in an offside position and West Brom win the free-kick.

13

 Portsmouth look to hold possession for a spell after a number of early attacks from their opponents.

10

Kevin Phillips finds space after Sol Campbell fails to intercept a through pass from Zoltan Gera, the former Sunderland striker is unable to get his shot off as Sylvain Distin gets the block in.

7

Milan Baros has space but the pass behind the West Brom defence has too much on it and runs through to Dean Kiely. A fine start from the Championship side.

5

Gera hits another shot, this time on target, and the Baggies fans are getting noisier as James fails to gather the effort properly and relies on Sol Campbell to clear the ball away.

4

Kevin Phillips hits the first effort on David James' goal, a rising strike that fails to trouble the England stopper it reflects the early dominance from Tony Mowbray's side.

1

West Brom skipper Jonathan Greening takes the first free-kick of the day, in Portsmouth's half and Bednar almost finds himself in space.

Portsmouth get the game underway and Niko Kranjcar darts down the left wing only to lose possession in the penalty area.


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

Kit Colours

West Bromwich Albion: Navy and white stripes, white shorts, navy socks

Portsmouth: Light royal blue shirts, Light royal blue shorts, Light royal blue socks