Source: Telegraph
Portsmouth 2 Sunderland 1: match report
John Utaka, the Nigerian striker whose £80,000-a-week wages typified Portsmouth's hopeless financial plight, at last started to prove his worth at Fratton Park mud. [LNB]Utaka scored in each half as Portsmouth overcame an early Darren Bent goal to earn a place in the fifth round with a plucky performance in difficult conditions. [LNB]Holders Portsmouth dumped out of FA Cup by SwanseaFA Cup Round-up: Holders Portsmouth crash out and Man United beat SpursCarling Cup third round draw: Holders Tottenham face trip to NewcastlePortsmouth on the verge of Nicky Shorey and Younes Kaboul signingsAvram Grant might not even have selected Utaka had he not lost four players to the African Nations Cup and been beset by injuries. [LNB]Grant was able to name only five substitutes - and one of those was unknown academy rookie Lennard Sowah. [LNB]Sunderland took the lead in the 15th minute when Bent took advantage of hesitation by Anthony Vanden Borre to prod a Kenwyne Jones flick-on past Asmir Begovic from 12 yards. [LNB]Portsmouth levelled in the 42nd minute when a long, hopeful ball out of defence by Mark Wilson to the corner of the Sunderland box was headed over an onrushing Craig Gordon, who could only watch as the ball trickled home. [LNB]Two Portsmouth fans ran onto the pitch in the first half to continue a pre-match protest in which some 300 fans marched to the ground from the city centre, registering their dis-satisfaction at the club's desperate financial state. [LNB]The anger was temporarily dissipated by Utaka's second after 57 minutes, racing clear onto a headed clearance by Younes Kaboul. [LNB]Utaka, who was also booked in a first-alf clash with Kieron Richardson, might have a hat-trick but his stinging 20-yard drive was denied by a smart low save from Gordon. [LNB]There was still time for late drama, as first Asmir Begovic denied Bent a second, acrobatically tipping over a 20-yard free-kick, before Paulo Da Silva's header from the resulting corner was desperately hacked from the line by Kevin-Prince Boateng. [LNB]But the goal was not to come as Portsmouth held on in front of a crowd of just 10,315, who celebrated the win with as much elation as the did at Wembley in the same competition two years previously.[LNB] [LNB]
