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England: Birmingham steal point despite Butt dismissal [Sun Sep 18th, 2005]
Portsmouth (AFP) - Jiri Jarosik rescued a point for 10-man Birmingham who maintained their unbeaten away record with a 1-1 stalemate at Fratton Park against Portsmouth.
Pompey are still looking for their first home win of the season despite taking the lead just four minutes into the match through striker Lomana LuaLua.
But Jarosik headed home a free kick from Jermaine Pennant to level the scores two minutes later before Nicky Butt was sent off just before the interval.
The former Manchester United and Newcastle midfielder clashed with Dario Silva and was shown a straight red card after lashing out at the Uruguayan following a robust challenge.
Both sides remain perilously perched just above the relegation zone after a share of the points that helped neither side.
Portsmouth boss Alain Perrin stuck to the same side that stunned Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park last week to earn their first win of the season.
With Emile Heskey recovering from an ankle injury, Blues manager Steve Bruce played the former England striker alongside Mikael Forssell in attack, but opted to withdraw the Finn after Butt's sending-off.
Heskey was forced to forage as a lone figure up front as Birmingham sought desperately to hold on to the point.
Midfielder Gary O'Neil should have scored a winner for Pompey in injury time, but just failed to make contact with the ball with the goal gaping.
Both sides sit two points ahead of Everton who occupy the last relegation spot but the Merseysiders can move clear of the drop zone if they beat Arsenal at Highbury.
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