Kanu fires Pompey into final

Portsmouth booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley.

Portsmouth make final for first time since 1939

Portsmouth booked their place in the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. The result does not tell the story of the game or do justice to Championship side West Brom, who dominated for most of the semi-final. But Tony Mowbray's side could not find a way through and it was left to a former Baggie to condemn them to defeat as Kanu grabbed the only goal of the game. The winner came just before the hour after Dean Kiely had saved brilliantly from Milan Baros. Then Zoltan Gera got in the way of his own keeper as he looked to clear off the line but he could only find Kanu - who made no mistake from four yards. Albion, spearheaded by prolific veteran Kevin Phillips, who has 24 goals this season and five in the previous seven games, were first to fire as Pompey made a stuttering start.

Albion dictate

Phillips clipped a shot over David James' crossbar from 20 yards and in the sixth minute the England goalkeeper spilled a tame effort by Gera and was thankful to see Campbell clearing up the loose ball. Albion continued to dictate the pace, although Hermann Hreidarsson, passed fit before the kick-off after an Achilles injury, almost sent Baros clean through the inside left channel, his pass just a shade heavy. It took nearly 30 minutes for Pompey to muster their first shot on target, and that was an optimistic 35-yard free-kick by Sulley Muntari which went straight down Kiely's throat. James caused Pompey another flutter trying to keep Glen Johnson's back-header from going out for a corner, palming it straight back towards the lurking Phillips but recovering just in time. But Pompey were at last beginning to exert some pressure towards half-time and Muntari got much closer for a strike after a determined solo run and drilled his shot just off target. Redknapp resisted the temptation to make changes at the interval and the decision was justified when Pompey nosed ahead with a streaky goal in the 55th minute. The ball finally ran for Baros following a free-kick which was turned back into the area by Glen Johnson and the Czech striker, who may have used his arm to control the ball, saw his shot palmed out by Kiely.

Easy job to score

The keeper scrambled across his line to get another despairing touch but Gera inadvertently got in the way and the ball rebounded to Kanu who had the easiest job in the world to tap home. Albion boss Tony Mowbray called for a double substitution on the hour as Chris Brunt and Ishmael Miller were introduced. But Pompey were looking a different side now, full of running and Baros should have made it 2-0 on 65 minutes. Kiely had already had to charge out of his area to stop him collecting a long, through ball but the striker - still to score during his loan spell with Pompey from Lyon - should have left him helpless from a Kranjcar pass. Baros left the action with 20 minutes left to be replaced by David Nugent but it was West Brom who threatened next, Koren's snap-shot clipping the bar in the 73rd minute. Muntari was just wide with a cross-shot and Nugent had the chance to seal it but failed to beat the brave Kiely and Pompey were finally able to breathe more easily after Miller's shot from a Carl Hoefkens cross passed inches wide with six minutes left.

West Bromwich Albion	Team Statistics	Portsmouth
0	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	0
0	Shots on Target	6
6	Shots off Target	4
3	Blocked Shots	2
2	Corners	2
12	Fouls	21
4	Offsides	7
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
80.1	Passing Success	70.4
32	Tackles	25
62.5	Tackles Success	68
62.3	Possession	37.7
52.2	Territorial Advantage	47.8