Chelsea, the holders, followed Manchester United out of the FA Cup last night, a 1-0 defeat by Barnsley removing the last member of the Premier League’s elite from a tournament they have dominated. With Portsmouth, United’s conquerors, now the highest-placed team in the competition, joined by Barnsley from the lower reaches of the Championship, the Cup’s capacity for shock and awe has been gloriously revived.

Victory at Oakwell, completed by Kayode Odejayi’s second-half header, capped Barnsley’s heroic victory at Anfield in the fifth round.

“This is the most disappointing day since I came to the club,” said Avram Grant, the Chelsea manager. Criticism of his management will be renewed by this humiliation. He blamed the poor pitch in part for Chelsea’s exit to a side that cost a fraction of his team. The most expensive Barnsley player was Istvan Ferentzi, who cost £250,000.

“Why not?” said Simon Davey, Chelsea, Man Utd crash out of Cup the Barnsley manager, when asked if his side can win the Cup. “We’ve beaten Liverpool and Chelsea, so we’ve done it the hard way so far.”

Barnsley reached the semi-final for the first time since 1912, when they won the Cup. For Portsmouth, it will be a first visit to the last four since 1992-93. Portsmouth’s Sulley Muntari fired the winner from the penalty spot past stand-in keeper Rio Ferdinand, who went between the posts after Thomas Kuszczak, who replaced the injured Edwin van der Sar, was sent off. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was furious that United had a penalty claim rejected and harshly criticised referee Martin Atkinson.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said: “It’s fantastic. To come here was the worst draw of the lot. It was a great performance.”

Anybody who backed a Barnsley-Portsmouth double would have been happy last night – the odds were 167-1. Pompey are now 6-5 favourites to win the trophy.

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