Southampton 2, Portsmouth 1

Southampton are through to the 5th round of the F.A. Cup after a hotly contested Peter Crouch penalty in extra time spared Saints manager Harry Rednapp a return leg at Fratton Park. The winner also provided some measure of revenge for former QPR striker Crouch (above), whose own exit from Portsmouth seemed designed to provide his new club with some semblance of cover when James Beattie was sold to Everton.

The England F.A. are said to be bowing to Sven Goran Erickson’s plea for a month’s break in the domestic schedule prior to the 2006 World Cup.