Jerome at the double

09 March 2010 23:09

Birmingham gained revenge for their weekend FA Cup exit against Portsmouth after sending the Premier League's bottom club closer to relegation with a 2-1 triumph at Fratton Park.

Despite going down 2-0 on the South Coast last Saturday, two goals from Cameron Jerome gave them the three points.

Substitute Kanu pulled one back in the dying minutes but with Pompey already five points from safety and facing a likely nine point deduction, this proved of little consolation in their uphill battle for survival.

Despite looking settled in the opening stages, Pompey's defence began to look nervy and this allowed Jerome to fire the visitors ahead after 16 minutes. He latched on to Christian Benitez's pass through the home rearguard before slotting the ball coolly to David James' right.

Alex McLeish's side nearly doubled their advantage after 26 minutes. Benitez was found by Michel's ball forward and squared for Craig Gardner, whose shot whistled just wide.

Pompey looked far from the assured side which knocked Birmingham out of the FA Cup and Benitez nearly made it two six minutes before the break.

A through ball from Jerome helped the Ecuadorian beat the Pompey offside trap. He rounded James, but his run was halted by a stunning, last-ditch tackle from Hermann Hreidarsson.

Birmingham put daylight between themselves and Pompey three minutes later, though, when Benitez back-heeled the ball to Jerome who shot under the diving James.

Frederic Piquionne had a golden opportunity to get the home side back into the match just before the hour mark, but failed to connect with a Nadir Belhadj cross.

Aruna Dindane`s stunning attempt was then tipped over by Joe Hart before Kanu made no mistake by heading home Jamie O'Hara's cross from the right after 90 minutes to set up a nervy finale.

Source: PA