Piquionne fires Pompey through

Piquionne: Taps in his second

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Frederic Piquionne bagged a brace to propel Portsmouth to a 4-0 Carling Cup win over Stoke.

Piquionne and Danny Webber were among seven changes made by manager Paul Hart and the strike pair were both on target as Pompey reached the quarter-finals for just the fifth time in their history.

Keeper Steve Simonsen was the only man to remain from Stoke's starting line-up for their 1-0 win at Tottenham and was beaten by Piquionne in the 17th minute.

Webber scored his first Pompey goal in the 55th minute and Piquionne scored his second four minutes later before substitute Kanu capped a convincing victory late on.

The worst scoring record in the Premier League may have left Pompey rooted to the foot of the table, but they have had few problems scoring in the Carling Cup, with their tally now at 11 from three matches so far in this season's competition.

Point to prove

Hart has axed Piquionne from his first-choice line-up and, with a point to prove, the French striker dazzled and frustrated in equal measure.

On loan from Lyon until the end of the season, the 30-year-old was Pompey's most dangerous player yet mixed his box of tricks and turn of pace with some erratic moments.

Only Aruna Dindane, Younes Kaboul, Marc Wilson and Hassan Yebda survived from Pompey's 0-0 draw at Hull with Michael Brown named captain on his return from suspension.

Dindane was involved during a bright start, linking well with Webber in a move that eventually broke down when Piquionne was shepherded out of the area.

Pompey almost snatched the lead 10 minutes in when Piquionne dashed into the box before forcing a goal-line clearance from Andy Griffin with Webber lurking.

They could not be denied seven minutes later, however, when the ubiquitous Piquionne outjumped Danny Higginbotham to nod home Nadir Belhadj's cross.

The tempo of the game dropped but Pompey still looked the more dangerous going forward, with Yebda playing a square ball for Piquionne, who this time skied his shot well over the crossbar.

Stoke defender Leon Cort made a timely clearance from a Anthony Vanden Borre cross as Pompey made a strong start to the second half.

Toothless Stoke

The visitors were securing plenty of possession but were toothless in the final third, a criticism that could not be levelled at Portsmouth as Piquionne set up Webber, who took one touch before firing home from the edge of the box.

Hart's team were out of sight as Simonsen fumbled a Brown free-kick and Piquionne enjoyed a simple tap-in.

Stoke finally hit the target through Tuncay but the flag went up for offside and, to complete the rout, Aaron Mokoena laid on a sweet pass for fellow sub Kanu to round Simonsen before slotting home with nine minutes left.