Portsmouth beat Plymouth 2-1 at Fratton Park to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Diarra and Kranjcar win it for Pompey
First-half goals from Lassana Diarra and Niko Kranjcar saw Portsmouth into the fifth round of the FA Cup at the expense of Plymouth Argyle.
It seemed an upset could be on the cards after the Championship side took the lead when debutant Chris Clark's shot was deflected past David James on five minutes.
Argyle then defended stoutly before Diarra equalised for Pompey on 34 minutes when his powerful low shot took a deflection.
The Premier League side then went in front just before half-time when Kranjcar drilled in after the visitors failed to clear a Glen Johnson cross.
Portsmouth keeper James pulled off a string of fine saves to deny Argyle in the second-half. The Championship side also had a good shout for a penalty after Rory Fallon's shot hit Sylvain Distin's hand but the referee waved play on.
Pompey soon showed their passing skills to put a fractionally offside Benjani Mwaruwari in on goal in the opening minute, but it was Argyle who took a shock lead with just five minutes on the clock - and Clark claiming a debut goal.
The former Aberdeen player was left in acres of space on the right side of the Portsmouth penalty area and his shot took a big deflection off Hermann Hreidarsson, who should have been marking him, and spiralled over James.
Stunned
Pompey were clearly stunned and James had to make a string of fine saves as Argyle tried to push home their advantage.
The keeper stretched low to keep out successive shots from Fallon, Peter Halmosi and Jermaine Easter after the trio all tried their luck against a home defence lacking injured Sol Campbell's considerable influence for a second successive week.
David Norris and Easter made James work hard yet again and although Pompey gradually imposed their superior technique it was not until the 33rd minute when Diarra's first goal for the club broke Argyle's defensive screen.
Luckless striker David Nugent, who was taken off at half-time, was slow to react to an opportunity after 20 minutes when Johnson crossed and was frustrated again when his snap-shot was deflected over the bar 13 minutes later.
But the corner was played short by Kranjcar and Pedro Mendes, finally reaching Diarra 25 yards out and he buried an emphatic low drive via a slight deflection.
Johnson, slack in defence, set up a chance for the persistent Easter to jab against a post with James rooted to the spot.
But almost immediately Johnson made amends with a fine cross at the other end and, although Kranjcar failed to reach it with a leaping header, it came back to him off David Norris and he coolly slotted it in.
Trouble
Yet Argyle simply refused to give up the fight in the second half and successive shots by Halmosi and Easter gave James further trouble.
Pompey often had to pull everyone back behind the ball to protect their lead, although Benjani, now a lone striker, worked hard to manufacture a couple of chances which he fired just off target.
And Pompey had a major escape in the 79th minute when Distin appeared to handle the ball as he challenged Fallon for a left-wing cross.
Argyle fans chanted their derison at the official and Pompey boss Redknapp stood anxiously gnawing his nails on the touchline right to the end.
| Portsmouth |
Team Statistics |
Plymouth Argyle |
| 2 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 4 |
Shots on Target |
7 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 6 |
Corners |
6 |
| 13 |
Fouls |
4 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 52.9 |
Possession |
47.1 |
|
