Arsenal demolished proud Portsmouth's defence with a dazzling exhibition of
muscle and magic at Fratton Park, marching closer to a third consecutive FA Cup
triumph with this quarter-final display spearheaded by two goals each from
Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg.
Brilliant young defender Kolo Toure also weighed in with a goal as well making
two others and Portsmouth knew it was certainly not their day when Aiyegbeni
Yakubu and Matt Taylor both struck the woodwork in the second half after the
Gunners had gone five up.
Teddy Sheringham, who netted in a 1-1 draw at Highbury in September when
Portsmouth's new Premiership ambitions were brighter, eventually came on to fire
a Pompey consolation right at the end from Steve Stone's pass.
But Arsenal ruthlessly stretched their unbeaten FA Cup run to 18 ties since
they lost the 2001 final to Liverpool with an unstoppable performance of style
and power.
The writing was on the wall for Pompey's cup dreams from the third minute when
Arsenal opened up their defence like a tin can and Jose Antonio Reyes, the
20-year-old Spanish sorcerer replacing old master Dennis Bergkamp, rocketed his
18-yard shot against the crossbar.
Yet such was the fire and belief in Harry Redknapp's team that Sol Campbell
had to make a decisive tackle on Croatian striker Ivica Mornar deep inside the
area before Arsenal refound the ambition to parcel up the game and claim a
fourth successive semi-final appearance.
In retrospect it was a foregone conclusion once Henry, who was lucky to escape
a booking for a crude trip on Taylor, gave them the lead with his 26th goal of
the season.
By the time he cheekily lobbed his second and the Gunners' fourth five minutes
after the break, Portsmouth were gasping.
And it was almost too cruel luck on them when Ljungberg, having scored the
second and been denied another by an offside flag, benefited from a sharp
deflection as he battered home Toure's through-pass for 5-0 with less than an
hour of the contest played.
The fun started for the hordes from North London when Ljungberg's
cross-cum-shot eluded Reyes, via Petri Pasanen's attempted clearance, but fell
for Henry to turn and drive powerfully past Hislop in the 25th minute.
You had to admire Portsmouth's fighting spirit, but Patrick Vieira and Edu and
Gilberto were beginning to boss the midfield for Arsenal and it looked only a
matter of time before one of Reyes' sharp touches got through.
Shaka Hislop, a goalkeeper playing despite a broken finger, had to stick out a
foot to stop Edu's shot and prevent Arsenal going two up in 36 minutes after
Ljungberg and Henry carved their way through.
And, after Mornar almost forced home Pompey skipper Nigel Quashie's low cross
at the other end, Finnish defender Pasanen twice did well to hold up Henry as
the striker tried to make space for shots.
But there was no stopping Ljungberg doubling Arsenal's lead two minutes before
the break.
Edu took possession 40 yards out, played a simple one-two with Vieira and then
laid the ball to his left where Ljungberg cut in to slide his shot home.
Centre back Toure slammed Arsenal's third in stoppage time at the end of the
first half when Pompey failed to clear a Henry corner and Ljungberg, Campbell
and Reyes both had attempts before the Ivory Coast defender hit the target.
Redknapp changed his personnel at the start of the second half with Steve
Stone and Richard Hughes, the former Arsenal reserve who knocked out Liverpool
in the last round, soon joining the fray.
But within five minutes of the restart, Henry delightfully steered the ball
past Hislop via a unfortunate skip off the pitch for 4-0 and Ljungberg poached
the fifth eight minutes later.
Pompey fans took it well. They rolled out the gallows humour at that stage
with a lung-bursting rendition of The Great Escape theme.
But of course, there was no escape, despite some pinball in the Arsenal
penalty area and a header by Nigerian striker Yakubu against the bar from Alexei
Smertin's cross.
Then Taylor's cross-shot also knocked on wood before Sheringham netted and
celebrated in front of the Arsenal fans who had berated the former Spurs star
from his first appearance on the day.
Teams
Portsmouth Hislop, Pasanen, Primus, De Zeeuw, Taylor, Smertin,
Faye, Quashie (Hughes 70), Berkovic (Stone 45),
Mornar (Sheringham 77), Yakubu.
Subs Not Used: Wapenaar, Harper.
Goals: Sheringham 90.
Arsenal Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole,
Ljungberg (Bentley 72), Vieira (Clichy 72), Edu, Silva, Reyes,
Henry (Kanu 72).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Cygan.
Goals: Henry 25, Ljungberg 43, Toure 45, Henry 50, Ljungberg 57.
Att: 20,137
Ref: J Winter (Cleveland).
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