South Africa’s Aaron Mokoena scored right at the end of extra-time as crisis club Portsmouth came from behind to beat Coventry City 2-1 in an FA Cup third round replay on Tuesday.
Victory gave Portsmouth, bottom of the Premier League and beset by financial problems, a fourth-round tie at home to top-flight rivals Sunderland.
Both Pompey goals were heartbreaking for second-tier Coventry, coming in the last minute of normal time and in time added on at the end of the second half of extra-time.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The win gave Portsmouth fans a rare moment of celebration in an otherwise chaotic season, on and off the field, and Mokoena said it had come at a vital time for the south coast club.
“It was very important to win this game so we can build on it,” Mokoena told ITV4. “We needed it so badly. It’s a big win for us.”
He added: “It’s always difficult to come to these places and credit to Coventry, they made it difficult for us. At the end of the day we managed to wrap it up.”
Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, were trailing behind for most of the match after Coventry striker Leon Best fired the home side into a 22nd-minute lead.
It seemed that cash-strapped Portsmouth, whose officials met earlier on Tuesday with Premier League chiefs in a bid to lift the club’s transfer embargo, were about to exit the FA Cup until Coventry’s Stephen Wright headed into his own net shortly before the end of normal time at the Ricoh Arena.
The tie was heading for a penalty shoot-out until defender Mokoena headed in the winner in virtually the last act of the game.
Earlier, Barry Ferguson’s first goal for Birmingham City saw them beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in a third-round replay at St Andrews to set-up a fourth round tie away to Premier League rivals Everton.
Scotland midfielder Ferguson struck from 15m shortly after the hour mark as Birmingham saw off in-form Championship high-flyers Forest and extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 14 matches.
Second-division Derby defeated third-tier Millwall 5-3 on penalties after the match at Pride Park finished extra-time at 1-1.
The deadlock was eventually broken when Steve Morison gave Millwall a 108th minute lead before Derby equalized soon afterwards through Steve Davies’ lob.
Derby goalkeeper Stephen Bywater saved from Danny Schofield in the shoot-out before Dean Moxey sealed the hosts’ place in the fourth round.
Sheffield United almost blew a 3-0 lead away to Championship rivals QPR, but held on for a 3-2 win at Loftus Road.
Lee Williamson opened the scoring in the 19th minute and then two goals in three second-half minutes from Jamie Ward and Richard Cresswell left the Blades 3-0 up with 20 minutes left.
However, Akos Buzsaky’s penalty gave Rangers hope before Damion Stewart’s goal two minutes from time set up a frantic finish.
In Tuesday’s only third-round match, Bristol City’s late equalizer secured a 1-1 draw against Championship rivals Cardiff after substitute Gavin Williams scored in the second minute of stoppage-time at a blizzard-hit Ashton Gate to cancel out Michael Chopra’s 76th minute opener for the visitors.
Yesterday’s third-round replays saw Premier League Liverpool, looking to salvage a so-far disappointing season, at home to second-tier Reading, while Championship leaders Newcastle faced divisional strugglers Plymouth.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two