Birmingham 4 Portsmouth 0: Neil Allen's verdict - Crushing season low for Blues as problems pile up
Pompey slumped to crushing defeat at St Andrew’s with their worst performance of the season
Mark Kosznovszky’s left-footed shot ricocheted off a flying body and spiralled into the air before menacingly arching towards Birmingham’s goal.
James Beadle, perhaps relieved to finally be involved, backpeddled and tipped the ball over the bar with little discomfort. Safety first, of course, no point in taking any needless risks.
The St Andrew’s clash had entered stoppage-time and Pompey at last had mustered their first - and only - shot on target, prompting ironic cheers from some of the home faithful.
Arguably it was Kosznovszky’s only meaningful moment in an otherwise anonymous performance from the Hungarian. Certainly, it’s another damning shooting statistic in a season now threatening to unravel.
John Mousinho’s men’s inability to score has long been painfully evident. Indeed, after Saturday, nobody in the Championship has netted fewer than their 10 goals from 13 matches.
Yet against Chris Davies’ side, surprisingly it was defensive issues responsible for a crushing defeat and their heaviest scoreline since the 5-1 humbling at West Brom in January.
As it Mousinho didn’t have a sizable enough headache trying to reinvigorate the proven goal instincts lying dormant within Colby Bishop and Conor Chaplin at present. Now his previously dependable backline is creaking.
Worst performance of Portsmouth’s season
By some margin, Saturday was Pompey’s most abject display of the season. Save a 20-minute period before half-time, they were shocking, particularly the manner in which they started the fixture.
To make matters worse, three of the goals arrived from set-pieces, highlighting yet another weakness in the armoury of a side now clutching just one win in their last nine fixtures and being dragged back into a relegation scrap.
Admittedly, the 4-0 humiliation was at the hands of a Birmingham City team burdened with demands for a Premier League return this season, with expectations driven by their highly-ambitious and big-spending American owners.
In reality, though, before kick-off, the hosts were positioned just two points ahead of Pompey, with their boss coming under increasing pressure following, in their eyes, a disappointing start to the campaign.
Curiously, there were noticeable nerves - and frustration - among the St Andrew’s crowd heading in at half-time with a 1-0 advantage as Mousinho’s men enjoyed a sustained period of possession without ever threatening.
How Davies required a positive result. Helpfully, a woeful Pompey obliged - and, for good measure, allowed them to achieve it with a swagger and flurry of goals.
Scoreline should have been greater
The scoreline should have been far greater, of course. Had it not been for Josef Bursik, with a fifth-minute penalty save from Jay Stansfield, and a ludicrous miss from Demarai Gray, it would have been a rout.
As it was, once the second was steered home at the near post by the head Tomoki Iwati in the 56th minute, the match was effectively over and descended into damage limitation time as the hosts strived to capitalise on their woeful opponents.
Granted, the absence of the ever-reliable Connor Ogilvie through illness inevitably weakened Mousinho’s backline, with central defender Ibane Bowat called up for his first Championship outing after 14 months at Fratton Park.
With Hayden Matthews again preferred to Josh Knight, irrespective of his match-deciding own goal the previous weekend, it was an ongoing struggle to fend off an energetic, pacy and progressive team such as Birmingham.
The tone for a wretched afternoon was set during the opening 45 seconds, when Regan Poole’s backpass to Bursik was shanked by the keeper to an opposition player, culminating in a save from Marvin Ducksch.
That heralded a 20-minute battering inflicted by last season’s League One champions, highly reminiscent of the opening day against Leeds last season, as it became just a matter of time when Birmingham would score their first.
There was a reprieve when Andre Dozzell was adjudged to have connected with Ducksch with a trailing foot for an early penalty, yet Bursik flung himself to his left to keep out Stansfield’s spot kick.
Three set-piece goals conceded
Then, on nine minutes, Alex Cochrane’s right-wing corner was met with a diving header from an unmarked Paik Seung-Ho, capitalising on acres of space to break the deadlock.
Emerging from the opening 25 minutes somehow trailing by just one goal, Pompey began to dominate possession, yet still lacking any creativity or cutting edge to threaten their hosts. Nonetheless, they remained in the match at half-time.
Indeed, with the cavalry of Bishop and Murphy introduced off the bench in the 53rd minute, the gameplan appeared to have been plotted to perfection - only for Iwata to grab the second three minutes later from a Tommy Doyle corner.
Another set-piece, this time a free-kick on 61 minutes from Cochrane, was headed home by Christoph Klarer after getting the better of Poole and it was 3-0.
It was just left for substitute Keshi Anderson’s deflected shot to find a way past Bursik in the 88th minute to complete the hammering as St Andrew’s toasted just a second win in seven matches.
And a third successive defeat renders Wednesday night’s home clash with Wrexham as an essential victory. To do so, it is likely Pompey require goals and a tight defence, both of which are doubtful at present.