We head to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round, aiming to maintain an unbeaten record over Pompey spanning almost seven decades.
Big wins, comebacks, and much more have followed since our last loss to the south-coast side. Here, we examine some of our longest unbeaten runs and why beating Portsmouth in the FA Cup has led to great success over the years.
our longest unbeaten runs
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You have to go back to March 1958 for the last time we suffered defeat against Portsmouth.
A wild encounter at Fratton Park saw us go 4-0 down inside the first 30 minutes. Jimmy Bloomfield, Danny Compton, Gordon Nutt, and an own goal helped us come back from four goals down to level the scores at 4-4, before Johnny Gordon's 75th-minute strike proved to be the match-winner in a nine-goal thriller.
Since then, however, we have been the dominant side in this encounter, with our run lasting 67 years without tasting defeat to Pompey.
Portsmouth's return to the top-flight in 2003 for six seasons saw us taste success on a number of occasions, as well as battling back to maintain our unbeaten run.
Two 1-1 draws against Portsmouth in the 03/04 season helped us on our way to the league title. We won our final four games against Portsmouth before their relegation, including a 4-1 win at Fratton Park which saw Aaron Ramsey net his first Premier League goal for us.
Longest current unbeaten runs
**Opponent**
**Unbeaten**
Portsmouth
22
Cardiff City
15
Leeds United
15
Hull City
14
Reading
14
While our unbeaten run against Portsmouth is our longest current spell without defeat, it's not our longest ever run against a single opponent. That record stands at 24 matches, with runs against Blackpool and Leicester City top of the pile.
Our 24-match unbeaten run against Blackpool spanned from 1896 to 1933, while we remained undefeated against the Foxes between 1995 and 2017, a run which included the final day of the 2003/04 season, when we claimed a 2-1 win to go the entire Premier League campaign unbeaten.
Longest unbeaten runs of all time
**Start of run**
**End of run**
**Opponent**
**Unbeaten**
19/12/1896
11/02/1933
Blackpool
24
11/02/1995
11/08/2017
Leicester City
24
14/04/1928
01/09/1937
Huddersfield Town
22
**06/12/1958**
**Ongoing**
**Portsmouth**
**22**
19/03/2000
09/01/2008
Tottenham Hotspur
21
Fa Cup success over pompey
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Four of our 22-match unbeaten run over Portsmouth have come in the FA Cup, with wins over Pompey helping us go all the way down the years.
In 1971, Peter Storey's penalties helped us overcome Portsmouth via a replay. That victory in the fourth round helped us reach the final, where extra-time goals from George Graham and Charlie George helped us complete a historic double.
Five goals helped us defeat Portsmouth in the quarter-finals in 2004, but we would fall short, losing to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-finals.
Fast forward 16 years and we were back at Fratton Park in March 2020 in the fifth round, aiming to reach the last eight of the competition. Goals from Eddie Nketiah and Sokratis helped a youthful side reach the quarter-finals, before going on to beat Sheffield United, Manchester City and Chelsea to see Mikel Arteta lift the FA Cup.
We have a 100% record against Portsmouth in the FA Cup, also downing them 2-0 at Fratton Park in the fifth round of the competition in 1932. We would go on to reach the final before losing to Newcastle United 2-1 at Wembley.
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