Portsmouth answer call to arms

Manchester Utd 0 Portsmouth 1MANCHESTER UNITED do know how to lose with dignity. Or at least their fans do.

Five years ago, when Ronaldo scored a Champions League hat-trick here for Real Madrid, the Brazilian left the pitch to a standing ovation. On Saturday there was another show of appreciation from the Stretford End as the scrum of back-slapping, high-fiving Portsmouth players made their way to the tunnel.

Alex Ferguson, a man who operates by the philosophy that a good loser is, well, a loser, will be worried that it is becoming something of a habit given that Manchester City's players were afforded the same treatment following their 2-1 victory here last month.

Nonetheless it was a stirring sight and, as David James, Lassana Diarra, Sol Campbell and the rest of Portsmouth's heroes waved back, something else became apparent: none of the players in blue and white was holding a souvenir red shirt. Nobody had rushed to Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney at the final whistle.

The best souvenirs from an FA Cup run are medals, and Harry Redknapp's players were not at Old Trafford to admire the view, soak in the atmosphere and go through the usual small-club routine of hunting out keepsakes. It was only a small thing, but it spoke volumes about this obdurate Portsmouth side.

Redknapp had been playing golf when he found out they had been drawn to play United and his immediate reaction was to fling his eight-iron down the fairway in a fit of pique. In the dressingroom afterwards, James asked his team-mates who had been "secretly scared" when the draw was made and, to loud laughter, almost everyone raised an arm.

Yet there was no inferiority complex. Redknapp said: "I told them before the game, 'I keep telling the newspapers how good you are. I keep saying I've got the best goalkeeper (James) in the country, two centre halves (Campbell and Sylvain Distin) I wouldn't swap for anybody, a right back (Glen Johnson) who should be playing for England, that there's no better midfield player anywhere than Diarra and that Kanu's a magician. Well, get out there and prove it, will you?'"

It was a call to arms that led to one of the finest results in Portsmouth's modern history. The only shame was that the post-match recriminations - when Ferguson and his assistant, Carlos Queiroz, went too far in their condemnation of referee Martin Atkinson - provoked enough headlines to deflect some of the glory from a club that had not won at Old Trafford since 1957.

It was the classic diversion technique, an old trick of the United management.

Ferguson and Queiroz thought the result was a travesty, pointing to the critical moment seven minutes into the game when Ronaldo hared away from Hermann Hreidarsson, surged into the penalty area and was body-checked to the ground by Distin.

Their complaints had some foundation: had it occurred anywhere else on the pitch a free-kick would almost certainly have been awarded. They were entitled to be angry, but their protests turned into a rant that smacked of sourness about losing to a team that created only one chance.

For United, it was a story of scuffed shots, goalmouth scrambles, bad luck and a number of telling moments when it felt as though fate was conspiring against them, such as Distin's goal-line clearance to deny Michael Carrick and James's save to turn Patrice Evra's shot against the post.

Then James hoofed a long kick and suddenly United had thrown so many players forward that the entire defence had gone Awol. Anderson, a midfielder, and Rooney, a striker, were forced into the role of centre halves as Nico Kranjcar sent Milan Baros clear on goal. He rounded Tomasz Kuszczak, inviting the challenge that led to the penalty and a red card for the offender.

Kuszczak had replaced the injured Edwin van der Sar at half-time and, with no more goalkeepers, Rooney wanted to pull on the gloves but, to Redknapp's delight, Ferguson nominated Rio Ferdinand to face Sulley Muntari's penalty. "I've seen Rio in goal when he was a kid at West Ham," said Redknapp. "I'll be honest with you, he wasn't very good."