Birmingham City 1, Portsmouth 0: Andy Walker's big match verdict
As expected, McLeish named a more attacking 4-4-2 starting line-up that saw Lee Carsley drop to the bench in place of O’Connor and Stephen Carr named as captain for the night.
Blues showed their intention right from the off but their over-eagerness often made them sloppy in the final third.
It was a first half that Blues edged. Keith Fahey tested James with a low drive, Larsson headed over from close range having only seen Queudrue’s cross at the last minute while O’Connor had couple of half-chances.
Pompey created little before the break. Joe Hart was alert to speculative efforts from Niko Kranjcar and Frederic Piquionne for the visitors, who lost Papa Bouba Diop to a hamstring injury in the 42nd minute.
Blues looked much more likely to score when Phillips was introduced, although Pompey did enjoy a brief purple patch. Just before the hour, Kranjcar’s attempt at a low shot on the edge of the area found Hayden Mullins unmarked, onside and five yards out. Fortunately for Blues, it caught Mullins off guard.
As well as often going beyond his call of duty at the back, stand-in skipper Carr regularly bombed forward and in the 63rd minute, his cross into the box was touched down by O’Connor, only to agonisingly run behind Phillips.
It was ironic that goalkeeper James was the man who eventually helped hand Blues victory at the death as the veteran kept Pompey in the game during the second half. Having brilliantly tipped over a stinging Larsson free-kick earlier, the England man, wearing an all pink kit, produced the save of the match in the 77th minute. McFadden’s quick free-kick was nodded down by O’Connor and Phillips instinctively fired goalwards only to be denied by James.
Christian Benitez entered the fray for O’Connor in the 81st minute, much to the delight of the home crowd, and his arrival would have come earlier, had there not been question marks over Queudrue’s ability to last the game.
As frustration started to set in, the breakthrough arrived. After a sustained period of pressure on the Pompey box, a Phillips cross rebounded off the head of Younes Kaboul and as Larsson chased after the high ball, James needlessly clattered into the Swede. McFadden stepped up and sent James the wrong way to slot his spot-kick into the left corner and ensure that Blues started as they mean to go on at home this season. The perfect ending to a perfect St Andrew’s send-off for ‘Mr Blues’.
BLUES (4-4-2): Hart 7; CARR 7, Johnson 7, Queudrue 6, Vignal 6 (Parnaby 49, 5); Larsson 7, Ferguson 6, Fahey 6, McFadden 7; Jerome 6 (Phillips 54, 6), O’Connor 5 (Benitez, 81). Not used: Maik Taylor, McSheffrey, Carsley, O’Shea.
PORTSMOUTH (4-5-1): James; Wilson, Kaboul, Distin, Belhadj; Vanden Borre (Utaka, ht), Bouba Diop (Basinas, 42), Mokoena, Mullins, Kranjcar; Piquionne (Kanu, 80). Not used: Begovic, Hughes, Nugent, Ward.
Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire).
