PORTSMOUTH hadn’t won at Old Trafford since he was in short trousers, but Harry Redknapp has a remarkable record against Manchester United in the FA Cup, and has now knocked them out three times, with three different clubs.

Pompey rode their luck to claim a place in the semi-finals on an afternoon when United had one goalkeeper injured and another sent off, but Sol Campbell and company defended magnificently, and on that basis deserved their good fortune.

Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, has never been this far in the tournament in four decades as player and coach, but he is no stranger to success against the most celebrated opponents of them all, having upset United in the Cup as manager of Bournemouth in 1984 and West Ham seven years ago, as well as now Portsmouth, who last won at the Theatre of Dreams back in 1957.

Sir Alex Ferguson and his team felt hard done by, and with some justification. They should have had a penalty of their own after only six minutes, when Sylvain Distin flattened Cristiano Ronaldo, before eventually succumbing to Sulley Muntari’s 78th-minute spot kick, awarded for a foul on Milan Baros which saw Tomasz Kuszczak sent off. The substitute goalkeeper was sent on for the second half, after Edwin van der Sar had sustained a groin injury. Ferguson was incandescent afterwards about the referee, Martin Atkinson, accusing him of “not doing his job properly.” He also claimed Atkinson “has his favourites”, and said the decision not to award United a penalty was “ridiculous”, and that his performance was “not acceptable.”

It was a rant which is certain to bring a disrepute charge from the Football Association. It also had the unmistakable whiff of sour grapes. Penalty controversy apart, United did all the attacking, and would have won comfortably but for two goalline clearances, by Distin and Glen Johnson, and a top-drawer save from England’s David James, at Patrice Evra’s expense.

It was a result nobody expected —- not the bookmakers, who offered 10-1 against Portsmouth, not even Redknapp himself, who had a round of golf ruined when the draw was made.

“I was playing my boy [Jamie Redknapp] and doing well when Peter Storrie [managing director at Fratton Park] phoned with the news [of the draw]. My eight iron went further than the ball. It was the draw nobody wanted, certainly not me.

“We came here at the end of January and they absolutely slaughtered us. It was 2-0 but really it could have been ten.

“I’ve had some good results against United, but I’ve also had some right batterings and I’m not going to be clever and pretend I’ve got a magic formula for beating them because I haven’t. I’ve been smashed to pieces more than enough times.”

Portsmouth approached the tie knowing that they would spend most of it on the back foot and defended with an assiduous determination that occasionaly strayed over the fine line between legitimate aggression and the persistant fouling, for which Lassana Diarra was booked.

United should certainly have had the early penalty which would have sent the tie down an entirely different path when a penetrative through-pass from Wayne Rooney played in Ronaldo, who was darting in on goal when Distin barged him over.

The incident provoked an angry touchline exchange between Ferguson and Portsmouth’s assistant manager, Joe Jordan.

United’s sense of frustration was exacerbated after 18 minutes when, with James stranded, defender Glen Johnson leapt to his rescue, heading out a shot from Carlos Tevez from under the crossbar.

Forced on to the defensive, Portsmouth applied themselves to the task with a spirit which bordered on the heroic, with Campbell and Distin outstanding in central defence and Glen Johnson totally outshining United’s Wes Brown who, inexplicably, was preferred by Fabio Capello when England played Switzerland last month.

In midfield, too, Portsmouth had the best player on parade in Diarra, whose intelligent industry eclipsed United’s Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves.

Deployed in 4-5-1 formation, Pompey’s preoccupation with shackling United’s formidable array of attacking talent was such that their own lone striker, Kanu, was a peripheral figure, replaced after an ineffective first half by Baros.

United continued to press, but got nowhere, and midway through the second half Ferguson made a double substitution, sending on Anderson and Michael Carrick in place of Tevez and Hargreaves in search of new ideas.

Within a minute of his introduction Carrick, set up by Ronaldo, took the ball past James, only to be dispossessed on the goalline by Distin when he looked certain to score. Reprieved, James then pulled off the save of the match to turn Patrice Evra’s piledriver onto his right-hand post.

The decisive incident came when Niko Kranjcar passed the ball inside from the right to Baros, who was felled by Kuszczak in a central position, 15 yards out. It was an obvious penalty, but the goalkeeper’s red card was harsh, with Rooney and Anderson both behind him, protecting the goal.

Rio Ferdinand took over the jersey and was beaten to his left by Muntari’s firm strike from the penalty spot. The capacity crowd were stunned. Portsmouth had burgled victory with their only goal attempt of any consequence, and there can be no repeat of United’s famous treble of 1999.

The furthest Redknapp had been in the Cup before was the quarter-finals with West Ham, who were beaten by Spurs. The uncommitted will agree with his view that Chelsea will be favourites for the old pot, “but it will be nice to have teams from outside the top four in the semis.”