Portsmouth endured a miserable afternoon in the Midlands, succumbing to a comprehensive 4-0 Championship defeat at Birmingham’s St Andrew’s ground. Despite Josef Bursik’s penalty save, goals from Paik Seung-ho, Tomoki Iwata, Christoph Klarer and Keshi Anderson sealed Pompey’s fate.
The Blues never recovered from a nightmare opening period at St Andrew’s, where Chris Davies’ big-spending hosts dominated proceedings from the first whistle.
John Mousinho made three alterations from the team that lost to Stoke at Fratton Park seven days earlier. John Swift returned following his suspension, while Ibane Bowat earned his first league appearance and Márk Kosznovszky was handed a starting berth. Colby Bishop and Conor Chaplin were named among the substitutes, whilst Connor Ogilvie missed out due to illness.
Before proceedings commenced, a Remembrance ceremony took place, with chief executive Andrew Cullen among those laying wreaths on the turf. Two buglers performed the Last Post before a minute’s silence honoured those who gave their lives in military service.
Birmingham emerged aggressively once the whistle blew and might have established a commanding advantage within the opening ten minutes. Josef Bursik’s wayward clearance was intercepted, though the goalkeeper recovered smartly to deny Marvin Ducksch’s subsequent attempt.
The hosts were then awarded a contentious spot-kick after Ducksch tumbled over Andre Dozzell’s leg inside the area. Referee Andrew Kitchen dismissed Birmingham’s appeals, but Jay Stansfield’s effort lacked conviction and Bursik saved comfortably.
The danger persisted, however, with Stansfield failing to connect when Patrick Roberts delivered across the six-yard box. Pompey appeared disorganised, and following a corner, Paik’s strike was diverted wide by Makenzie Kirk. The visitors failed to heed the warning, and when Alex Cochrane swung in another set-piece, Paik rose unmarked to nod home.
Another effort from the South Korean midfielder sailed high, whilst Regan Poole threw himself into the path of Iwata’s shot. The visitors looked vulnerable but gradually found composure, enjoying considerable possession for the remainder of the half. Despite some pleasing build-up play, they struggled to threaten in the attacking third.
Kosznovszky saw a deflected attempt drift wide, whilst several long Marlon Pack throws were handled nervously by the Birmingham defence. Growing frustration emanated from the home supporters regarding their team’s deep positioning, but goalkeeper James Beadle remained well-shielded.
Half Time: Birmingham 1 Pompey 0
Birmingham resumed as they had started, causing immediate problems following the restart. Poole raced across to produce another superb block when substitute Keshi Anderson broke through. When Stansfield then delivered towards the far post, Bursik positioned himself well to unsettle Demarai Gray and force a wayward finish.
Mousinho responded with a triple substitution on 54 minutes, introducing Bishop, Josh Murphy and Zak Swanson for Kirk, Minhyeok Yang and Bowat. Birmingham maintained their momentum, with Bursik saving from close range after Stansfield’s cross found Iwata.
Iwata doubled the advantage moments later, rising at the near post to flick Tommy Doyle’s corner past Bursik. Further set-piece misery arrived on 62 minutes when captain Klarer powered home Cochrane’s free-kick.
Conor Chaplin soon replaced Swift, but Pompey struggled to stem the tide as Birmingham continued pressing forward. Relief came when an offside flag was raised after Kyogo Furuhashi converted, the substitute clearly beyond the last defender.
The travelling contingent – vocal throughout the afternoon – remained supportive but were denied a consolation. Instead, Birmingham struck late on, Anderson’s effort from distance striking Poole to deceive Bursik. The visitors did force Beadle into action before the final whistle, the keeper tipping Kosznovszky’s deflected strike over.
Birmingham (4-2-3-1)
Beadle; Iwata (Osayi-Samuel 89), Neumann, Klarer (c), Cochrane; Doyle, Paik; Roberts (Anderson 46), Stansfield (Dykes 77), Gray (Koumas 77); Ducksch (Furuhashi 58)
Goals: Paik 9, Iwata 56, Klarer 62, Anderson 88
Booked: Klarer
Subs not used: Allsop, Cashin, Leonard, Fujimoto
Pompey (4-2-3-1)
Bursik; Williams, Matthews (Knight 82), Poole, Bowat (Swanson 53); Pack (c), Dozzell; Kosznovszky, Swift (Chaplin 67), Minhyeok (Murphy 53); Kirk (Bishop 53)
Booked: Williams, Murphy
Subs not used: Killip, Le Roux, Devlin, Bianchini
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Attendance: 27,903 (2,003 Pompey fans)
Mousinho: We Got What We Deserved
John Mousinho offered no excuses following Pompey’s comprehensive Championship defeat at Birmingham. Despite Josef Bursik denying Stansfield from the spot, City established the lead through Paik Seung-ho. The visitors improved before the interval but collapsed after the break, with Iwata, Klarer and Anderson securing the 4-0 victory.
Mousinho acknowledged his team received precisely what their performance warranted and could have suffered an even heavier loss.
The Blues boss said: “We got exactly what we deserved and could easily have lost by an even greater margin.
“We made some incredibly poor decisions and put ourselves completely on the back foot from the very start.
“There were basic things that we didn’t do and by giving Birmingham that foothold, it made things extremely difficult for us.
“We could have been two or three goals down early on and pretty much everything that we tried to do went wrong.
“One of the frustrations is that we settled and got into the break only 1-0 down, then made the substitutions early on, but regardless of what players were on the pitch, it didn’t make a difference.
“I don’t think frustration is the word, but it’s difficult to sum up how I’m feeling because that was just well below what we want to see.
“There were shades of what we did a few times away from home last season and we thought we’d moved beyond that, but clearly haven’t.
“I have to take responsibility for the fact that I’ve put a team on the pitch who performed that way. We obviously didn’t do enough put them in the right spot.
“But players have their own careers to play for and they’re falling well, well short of the standards we expect.
“We’ve got to come up with solutions and make sure to dig in and do our best to get out of this situation.”
Ibane Bowat earned his first league appearance at left-back, with Connor Ogilvie surprisingly absent from the matchday squad.
Mousinho said: “He was ill and should be back for Wednesday, but Ibs was probably one of the few to come out of the game with any credit.”
Williams: Standards Must Improve
Jordan Williams called on Pompey to raise their standards following the Championship collapse at Birmingham. The Blues suffered an early onslaught and despite Bursik’s penalty save from Stansfield, Paik Seung-ho headed the hosts ahead. Portsmouth improved before half-time but disintegrated after the restart, with Iwata, Klarer and Anderson ensuring the heavy loss.
Williams admitted the Blues fell short of their own expectations and must work diligently to regain form.
The right-back said: “I don’t know why we produced a performance like that, but we certainly need to put it right.
“We went 1-0 down, but it could have been three or four after just 20 minutes. We were so disappointed.
“I did think that we came back into the game after that and had a lot of the ball, but we needed to create more.
“We spoke at the break about how we’d got away with it. We had conceded so many chances and needed to do something different.
“But despite all that, we then started so slowly again in the second half. We need to learn – and learn fast.
“Now is the time to come together and keep pushing on because there’s clearly a lot that we need to improve on.
“We’re all feeling frustrated and nobody wants to be playing like that. We know that it’s not good enough.
“Everyone does need to look at themselves after that display and we have to work hard to put things right.”
