FA Cup holders Portsmouth were held by battling Bristol City in their third round clash at Fratton Park.
Pompey must meet Bristol City again
FA Cup holders Portsmouth were held to a 0-0 draw by battling Bristol City in their third round clash at Fratton Park.
Pompey defeated five Championship on their way to last season's Wembley triumph, but came up short against Gary Johnson's men.
City defender Jamie McCombe kept a close eye on Peter Crouch throughout the match with the giant duo often involved in the thick of the action.
Pompey went into action without main striker Jermain Defoe - a bout of flu preventing him becoming cup-tied ahead of a much-speculated big money move back to Tottenham - and the injured Glen Johnson, whose Fratton Park future is also unclear.
But they had the better of the first half against a stubborn City side who occupy a mid-table place in the Championship.
The visitors were without injured leading figures like club record £2.5million signing Nicky Maynard and Scottish international Michael McIndoe.
However, new signing Peter Styvar, a £400,000 recruit from Slovakia, prevented Pompey youngster Marc Wilson giving the home side the lead with a clearance off the line in the 16th minute.
Sylvain Distin's follow-up effort was hacked over the bar by Jamie McCombe and referee Phil Dowd turned down a penalty appeal for Niko Kranjcar's tumble over Cole Skuse.
Careless
But that apart and the outstanding Kranjcar's 25-yard shot which finished a yard wide, City looked secure at the back in the first half although they created little in attack despite Pompey's propensity for careless marking.
With £6million David Nugent, starting back-to-back games in place of Defoe, operating mainly on the right, Kranjcar was chief support for Peter Crouch up front as Pompey took an edge from the opening 45 minutes.
However, the travelling City fans were encouraged by their side's occasionally slick raids on the counter-attack.
Kranjcar, though, should have settled the contest five minutes after the break when he arrived late and unmarked for a sprawling header after Crouch pulled back Arnold Mvuemba's cross from beyond the far post. The Croatian headed wide when it looked easier to score.
His luck was still out when a thumping drive came back off goalkeeper Adriano Basso's body - and so was Nugent's when his heavy touch wrecked Crouch's chance of finishing in front of an open goal.
After Nugent failed with another penalty shout when he went down under Liam Fontaine's strong challenge, he saw Skuse clear away a curling effort which appeared to be heading for the top corner.
Yet Pompey had to thank England goalkeeper James for a tip-over save when substitute Dele Adebola - replacing much-abused Southampton loanee Stern John - put a fine cross straight on Bradley Orr's head just 10 yards out with 20 minutes to go.
City finished strongly, but their 3,000 fans in a Fratton Park lowest crowd of the season - 14,446 - were delighted with the prospect of a replay at Ashton Gate a week on Tuesday.
| Team Name |
Portsmouth |
Bristol City |
| Possession |
57% |
43% |
| Goals |
0 |
0 |
| Shots On Target |
8 |
2 |
| Shots Off Target |
5 |
1 |
| Blocked Shots |
0 |
0 |
| Corners |
11 |
1 |
| Fouls Conceded |
9 |
8 |
| Offsides |
2 |
2 |
| Yellow Cards |
1 |
1 |
| Red Cards |
0 |
0 |
|
