Source: Telegraph
Southampton 1 Portsmouth 4: match report
If you're going to go out you might as well go out with a bang. Like a religious cult anticipating the apocalypse, there is a kind of mad energy running through Portsmouth football club at the moment, whipped up by the most unlikely high priest, Avram Grant. [LNB]As the end nears, the more defiant they become and this FA Cup victory over their hated rivals brought jubilation at the final whistle. They live to fight another round, in theory at least. [LNB] Related ArticlesProud Portsmouth battle onFA cup actionThe bitter Southampton support, who had watched their team dominate a scoreless first half, invoked the spectre of the taxman to try and puncture the celebrations just as when, during the match, one of their number had leapt onto the pitch in full fake Sheikh regalia to taunt the away fans with a fistful of grubby fivers. [LNB]Yet it is they who were disconsolate after Portsmouth's late flourish added humiliating gloss to the scoreline. [LNB]It all happened too quickly for Southampton as the visitors scored four times in 18 minutes. The catalyst for it all was Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, the former Arsenal academy player who Portsmouth had managed to sign on loan from Spartak Moscow last month. [LNB]Grant sent him on with just under an hour played and the home defence could not cope. [LNB]'I know him from his time at Arsenal,' Grant said. 'I'm also a close follower of Russian football. I like to develop players and I think if he can reach his potential he can be a great player.' [LNB]He opened the scoring himself, seizing on a swift shift of possession by John Utaka to curl a cute finish inside the far post from inside the box. [LNB]The lead did not last long, the prolific Rickie Lambert heading in Dan Harding's free kick to bring the game back to parity. [LNB]Owusu-Abeyie was not finished yet, though. He ran at the heart of the Saints' defence before cleverly slipping a through ball in for Aruna Dindane. The Ivorian striker's shot hit Kelvin Davies and looped into the net. [LNB]Southampton substitute Lee Barnard had the ball in the net but was flagged offside and with that, something seemed to give. [LNB]The outstanding Jamie O'Hara cushioned a superb pass into space on the left and Nabir Belhadj went sprinting after it. The Algerian left back made as if to square it before passing in at the near post. [LNB]Belhadj was involed for the fourth as well, sending a cross over to the far post where Ouwus-Abeyie cushioned it into the path of O'Hara. The hard-running midfielder, on loan from Spurs, got plenty of power behind his shot and Davies could not keep it out. [LNB]'It was a bit naïve from us really,' said Alan Pardew, the Southampton manager. 'It left us with a nasty scoreline, one we didn't really deserve. Scoring the first goal was important psychologically but David James was terrific for them.' [LNB]The England goalkeeper did make a hash of one cross, almost gifting Radhi Jaidi a goal, but was otherwise excellent. [LNB]He made three excellent saves from headed chances - first from Papa Waigo N'Diaye, then from Wayne Thomas and, the best of the lot, from Adam Lallana just after the break. [LNB]James having kept them in it, Portsmouth improved as Southampton struggled to keep up the intense tempo of the first half. [LNB]Three goals were scored by loan players and there is so much provisional about Portsmouth these days. As the club collapses around him, Grant has emerged as an unlikely leader. [LNB]Perhaps it is the red-blooded revelations about his private life but the players and supporters are responding to the sullen Israeli's demagoguery. Out of adversity he has forged a bond between this cosmopolitan collection of players who are not even sure if they'll be paid next month. [LNB]'They tell me I should write a book about my time at Chelsea,' he said. 'But I could write a book about every day here at Portsmouth. The Premier League took an easy decision (to institute a transfer ban in January). [LNB]"The Premier League has a tradition of fair play and I do not think we were treated fairly. I think they need to find and punish the people who are responsible for his. I don't know who that is but it is not us. [LNB]Despite the trying circumstances, Grant has never looked more energised. With nothing to lose he is growing in stature. [LNB]'I had a decision to make, too: to give up or make the best of it. I always said to my children, when difficult times happen you have to show character.' [LNB]
