Portsmouth 2-0 Birmingham City: Frederic Piquionne double sends Pompey into the FA Cup semi-finals

Frederic Piquionne scored a brace as troubled Portsmouth booked their place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at the expense of Birmingham City.

Portsmouth came out of the blocks the quickest, with Frederic Piquionne testing Birmingham 'keeper Joe Hart inside the first minute of play.

It was Birmingham who started to gain control shortly afterwards, but some scrappy passing led to a few promising moves breaking down. The Blues actually had the first and only real chance of the half after another good move led to Cameron Jerome finding space, but David James was there to roll back the years and produce a great stop low down at his near post.

As the half progressed, it was starting to look like a game where both sides were trying not to concede rather than score. Wayward passing and niggly fouls meant the game wasn't flowing and Birmignham, despite their posession, were struggling to test James.

John Utaka found himself with space in the Blues' half in the closing stages, but he could only blaze over Hart's crossbar with a shot that summed up the first period of action - poor.

Portsmouth came out showing more desire in the second half. A good ball was played over the top of the Birmingham defence, but Hart showed his England credentials by coming out well to pounce on the loose ball.

Pompey were looking more dangerous as the half went on. Piquionne could have given them the lead with a header, but Barry Ferguson was there to brillantly nick the ball away from the big striker.

The Frenchman was causing problems for the Blues, and he soon gave them an unlikely lead. It wasn't excactly a fairytale goal, but certainly a massive one. A scramble in the Birmingham area led to the ball bouncing loose on the goal line, and Piquionne was there to tap the ball home.

Minutes later, he did it again albeit in a far more stylish manner. A great ball from O'Hara found the energetic striker in the area and he managed to wrong foot a couple of defenders with a twisting move and calmly slot the ball past Hart.

Michael Brown then went close with a deflected shot that dipped wickedly but landed on top of the Birmingham goal much to the away side's relief.

The Blues going for broke, and they needed to, sent on Kevin Phillips and Christian Benitez for last ten minutes and moments later Birmingham, unlike the referee, thought they'd scored.  James produced a fantastic save from a corner, and from the resulting rebound Ridgewell headed for goal and the 'keeper was adjudged to have produced a scrambling save to keep the ball out. It was a poor decision from the officials as the ball did cross the line.

In fairness to Birmingham, they could have let their heads drop after that but they kept pushing. However, they could not find the strength to muster any kind of comeback.

A fantastic day for Portsmouth. They may be in dire straits off the field, but they showed enough heart today to suggest that they haven't given up and their jubilant, loyal supporters can look forward to the semi-final draw with some optimism.