Muntari penalty sees Portsmouth shock United in FA Cup
Sulley Muntari scores penalty to see FA Cup quarter-final victory over United
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Saturday, 08, Mar 2008 06:34
Sulley Muntari's 78th minute penalty knocked favourites Manchester United out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory in a dramatic quarter-final.
United had dominated the match, creating chance after chance, but Portsmouth refused to back down and defended brilliantly.
Totally against the run of play, Milan Baros shot clear of the United defence and was taken down by keeper Tomasz Kuszczak who replaced Edwin Van der Sar at half-time.
The Pole was sent off, and Muntari calmly slotted the ball past makeshift keeper Rio Ferdinand to earn Portsmouth a place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
The win will send Portsmouth to Wembley for the first time in 69 years for the semi-finals and ruined United's hopes of achieving the treble.
As the first half kicked off, Lassana Diarra set the tone for the match when he barged Cristiano Ronaldo off the ball and was lucky to escape a booking.
United had a huge penalty shout in the tenth minute when the Portuguese was once again the victim of barging.
Wayne Rooney delivered a beautiful pass to Cristiano Ronaldo who controlled brilliantly and burst into the box but was barged off the ball by Sylvain Distin. Referee Martin Atkinson refused to give it.
The Red Devils continued to put the early pressure on Portsmouth as they tried to push home the home advantage, but the Blues defence stood tall and strong throughout.
Nico Kranjcar had the first attempt for the visitors with a low-swerving shot from distance and, although Edwin Van der Sar fumbled it, he managed to recover.
On 19 minutes United had the best chance of the game with Wayne Rooney breaking on the counter, making it round the keeper before being tackled by Sol Campbell. The ball rebounded to Carlos Tevez but Glen Johnson made it on to the line to head the shot away.
Despite the dominant United possession Portsmouth defended impressively and deserved to still be in the game at the interval.
United once again started the better side, pushing Portsmouth back into their own half.
Rooney squandered chance after chance, most notably smashing a shot into the stands from just outside the penalty area on 53 minutes.
Nani then put in a searching corner which Nemanja Vidic got a head on. David James fumbled it away and a scuffle ensued before it fell to Ronaldo who slipped it agonisingly left of the post.
With nothing seeming to break the deadlock, Ferguson introduced Michael Carrick and Anderson for Tevez and Hargreaves.
Within minutes of coming on, Carrick picked up Cristiano Ronaldo's pass and took it past James before Sylvain Distin flew in with a saving challenge on the line and another chance was missed.
United's pressure continued as Patrice Evra forced James to tip his shot onto the post and away.
Then unbelievably against the run of play, Kuszczak took Milan Baros down in the penalty box and was sent off, forcing Rio Ferdinand to put on the gloves.
Sulley Muntari made no mistake and smashed the ball past into the bottom right corner to seal a famous victory.
This was Portsmouth's first victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in 50 years as well as Harry Redknapp's first FA Cup semi-final.