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BIRMINGHAM CITY | 4 | 0 | PORTSMOUTH |
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Season 2025 / 2026 (H) Birmingham City Championship |
| 1 November 2025 | TRANSFERMARKT | FOOTBALL DATABASE |
LOST |
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BIRMINGHAM CITY | 4 | 0 | PORTSMOUTH |
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Pompey never recovered from
a disastrous start at St Andrew’s, falling to a 4-0 Championship defeat
against big-spending Birmingham. Josef Bursik had saved Jay Stansfield’s penalty, only for Paik Seung-ho to give the hosts the lead soon after. And although the Blues finished the first half on top, their opponents took charge after the break, as goals from Tomoki Iwata, Christoph Klarer and Keshi Anderson saw them comfortably secure the points. John Mousinho made a trio of changes from the side beaten by Stoke on home soil the previous weekend. John Swift returned from serving a one-match ban, while there was a league debut for Ibane Bowat and a start for Márk Kosznovszky. Colby Bishop and Conor Chaplin both dropped to the bench, with Connor Ogilvie absent from the squad through illness. There was a period of Remembrance ahead of kick-off, with Pompey chief executive Andrew Cullen among those to lay a wreath on the pitch. A pair of buglers then played the Last Post before a minute’s silence was observed as a tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of their country. Leicester came charging out of the blocks once the action started and could have been four goals up inside the opening 10 minutes. A poor kick from Josef Bursik was capitalised on, although the keeper recovered well to keep out the resulting shot from Marvin Ducksch. The hosts were then awarded what appeared to be a soft penalty after Ducksch went over Andre Dozzell’s trailing leg in the box. Referee Andrew Kitchen ignored the Blues’ protests, but Stansfield’s penalty was poor and comfortably saved by Bursik. The danger was not over, although Stansfield could not connect when Patrick Roberts sent the ball across the face of goal. Pompey were looking sloppy, though, and a corner was nodded down for Paik to hit a shot that Makenzie Kirk diverted wide. They failed to learn their lesson and when the second set-piece came in from Alex Cochrane, Paik was left all along to head home. Another attempt from the South Korea international went over, while Regan Poole flung himself in the path of Iwata’s effort. The visitors looked all at sea, but slowly began to settle and were totally dominant in possession for the rest of the half. Unfortunately, despite some attractive passing play, they were unable to cause much damage in the final third. Kosznovszky had a shot that was deflected wide, while some long Marlon Pack throws were nervously dealt with. There was a growing sense of frustration from the home support at how deep their side were sitting, but keeper James Beadle was well protected. Half Time: Birmingham 1 Pompey 0 Much like they had in the first half, City caused the visitors plenty of problems immediately following the restart. Poole came charging across to make another fantastic block when substitute Anderson raced through on goal. And when Stansfield then sent a delivery towards the back post, Bursik did enough to put off Demarai Gray and force him to shoot wide. Mousinho responded with a triple switch on 54 minutes, as Bishop, Josh Murphy and Zak Swanson replaced Kirk, Minhyeok Yang and Bowat. But Birmingham continued to threaten and Bursik saved from point-blank range when Stansfield’s centre was met by Iwata. It was Iwata who did double their lead moments later, though, rising at the near post to flick home Tommy Doyle’s corner. And there was more set-piece woe for the Blues on 62 minutes, as skipper Klarer firmly headed home Cochrane’s free-kick. Chaplin soon replaced Swift, but Pompey were struggling to turn the tide as Birmingham kept getting forward. There was relief when a flag was raised after Kyogo Furuhashi put the ball in the net, although the substitute was clearly offside. It was the travelling fans making the most noise – as had been the case for most of the afternoon – but they were not rewarded with a consolation for the journey home. Instead it was Birmingham who struck again late on, as Anderson’s strike from outside the box struck Poole to beat Bursik. The visitors did at least force Beadle into action before the final whistle, with the keeper tipping Kosznovszky’s deflected effort over. |
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Updated - 02/11/2025 |
