London - A fantastic second-half goal from Nigerian International, Nwankwo Kanu was enough to send English premiership side, Portsmouth through to their first FA Cup final in 69 years in a tension soak match with his former team, West Brom FC.

The Super Eagle’s skipper, Kanu side-footed an easy chance to see off West Brom after Dean Kiely had denied Milan Baros and Zoltan Gera had failed to clear.

Baros, who looked to have handled in the build-up to the goal, missed a simple chance to seal the win. They were almost made to pay but Robert Koren’s shot hit the bar and Ishmael Miller fired wide late on.

Portsmouth will now face the winners of the all-Championship tie between Barnsley and Cardiff on Sunday in the final. Their win carries on the top flight’s run of having a team in every FA Cup final.

Pompey were already odds-on favorites to lift the trophy before the game, but for long periods it was West Brom who looked the better bet for a return to Wembley on 17 May.

Harry Redknapp’s south coast side were not at the races during a lackluster first-half display and it Albion who looked like the Premier League thoroughbreds.

Portsmouth’s defensive pair of Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin struggled throughout to deal with veteran forward Kevin Phillips dropping deep. The former Southampton striker found plenty of space and tested Pompey early on with a long-range shot just over the bar before a neat lay-off that ended with Zoltan Gera causing problems for a fumbling David James with a low shot.

Portsmouth were all at sea going forward, with Baros wasteful and Kanu barely contributing as Redknapp looking increasingly agitated on the sidelines.

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