McFadden spot-kick seals win

James McFadden scored an injury-time penalty to give Birmingham a crucial victory over Portsmouth at St Andrews.

Injury-time penalty sees Blues win

James McFadden scored an injury-time penalty to give Birmingham a crucial victory over Portsmouth at St Andrews. Sebastian Larsson had the best chance of the first period but headed a Gregory Vignal cross over from six yards out, while at the other end, Frederic Piquionne forced Joe Hart into a low save at his near post. In the second period, Hayden Mullins shot wide when unmarked six yards out before David James pulled off a fantastic save to deny substitute Kevin Phillips. But a contentious penalty decided the game after Phillips' cross was headed away by Younes Kaboul and James, who was watching the ball and not the player, ran into Larsson at the far post, sending him crashing to the ground. Referee Lee Probert pointed to the spot and up stepped McFadden to drill the ball past the 39-year-old. James' previous efforts had looked to have earned his side a valuable point on the day Pompey confirmed a new consortium led by chief executive officer Peter Storrie was in negotiations to buy the club. Blues boss Alex McLeish is desperate for his side to make St Andrews into a fortress after eight draws in his 13 home games in charge two seasons ago were a major factor in them being relegated. But for all their endeavour and purpose, with Barry Ferguson impressive in midfield, they were unable to unlock the Pompey defence, in which Sylvain Distin was a key performer, until the late finale.

Change

McLeish made one change from the side beaten by a single goal at Manchester United with striker Garry O'Connor brought into the starting line-up at the expense of midfielder Lee Carsley. Portsmouth boss Paul Hart handed a debut to on-loan Genoa midfielder Anthony Vanden Borre after international clearance was finally obtained on Tuesday. He came into the side at the expense of John Utaka. Before the kick-off a minute's applause was undertaken in honour of former Blues chairman Jack Wiseman who died last week at the age of 92. Blues striker Cameron Jerome had the first shot on target after some sloppy defensive work by the visitors but James held onto his low drive away to his left. Jerome then teed up Keith Fahey on the edge of the box but his low shot, although taking a slight deflection, did not overly trouble James. But Larsson came close to putting City in front after 18 minutes. The Sweden international got on the end of a deep first-time centre from left-back Vignal but he could not keep down his header. It was 35 minutes before Portsmouth managed a worthwhile effort on target and then on-loan Hart was well positioned to hold onto a long-range attempt from Niko Kranjcar. Portsmouth were forced into a substitution after 42 minutes when Papa Bouba Diop limped out of the action to be replaced by Angelos Basinas. Hart then parried a low effort around the post from Piquionne although the shot was probably heading just wide before his intervention.

Second period

Portsmouth boss Hart made a half-time substitution with Utaka replacing Vanden Borre. McFadden made a good break down the left before releasing Jerome but he lacked the necessary composure and curled his shot wide. Vignal looked to have picked up a knock and he made way for Blues defender Stuart Parnaby after 49 minutes. Then Jerome was bundled off the ball by Basinas, who was yellow carded, and after pitch-side treatment he was replaced by Phillips. City tried to build up some momentum and James turned over a curling free-kick from Larsson after Phillips had been brought down by Mullins. At the other end, City keeper Hart had little trouble in holding onto an effort from a similar range by Kranjcar. James made a fine save to turn a volley from Phillips past the post after O'Connor had headed the ball into his path. But St Andrews erupted after McFadden's late decider.

Birmingham City	Team Statistics	Portsmouth
1	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
5	Shots on Target	3
4	Shots off Target	5
5	Blocked Shots	2
4	Corners	5
11	Fouls	20
0	Offsides	4
0	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
70.9	Passing Success	75.3
13	Tackles	20
76.9	Tackles Success	80
47.4	Possession	52.6
59.7	Territorial Advantage	40.3