Birmingham City survived the dismissal of Nicky Butt to earn a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth, where they played the whole of the second half with 10 men at Fratton Park.
Midfielder Butt was dismissed just before the break after he kicked out at Pompey striker Dario Silva when the pair tussled on the goal line before a free-kick.
Referee Dermot Gallagher - who did not impress the home crowd with most of his other decisions - consulted his assistant before showing the former Manchester United man a red card, and cautioning Silva for his part in the tussle.
Despite having the better of the second half, Pompey were unable to find a away past the resolute Birmingham defence - helped in part by some fine saves from Maik Taylor and notable poor finishing by the home side.
It had, though, all looked so promising when Pompey got off to a flying start inside just four minutes.
Lomana LuaLua found himself in space down the left, and cut into the penalty area before sending a looping shot towards the far corner, which Damien Johnson hooked off the line.
From the resulting corner on the right, the Congo forward nipped ahead of Taylor at the near post to stab Pompey into an early lead. The advantage barely lasted two minutes, however.
Jermaine Pennant sent in a deep free-kick from the right by-line and Emile Heskey got the deftest of flicks, which wrong-footed Brian Priske. The defender's slip allowed Jiri Jarosik to power a downward header past Jamie Ashdown from close range.
After such an explosive start, the tempo of the match then dropped as both teams tussled for dominance in midfield.
In the 17th minute, Birmingham 'keeper Taylor was brave to come through a body of players and collect a loose ball in the six-yard box.
As the half hour approached, Laurent Robert sent a curling free-kick up over the wall from 20 yards, however Butt was perfectly placed on the right-hand post to clear.
The home side were now enjoying their best spell, and Blues skipper Kenny Cunningham produced a diving header to clear another testing centre from Robert into the visitors' penalty box.
Taylor then palmed away LuaLua's low centre across the six-yard box, before Richard Hughes dragged an effort wide from 12 yards following another menacing run from the African.
As half-time approached, Birmingham prepared to defend a free-kick just outside their area. Dario Silva and Butt tussled on the goal line, with the former Manchester United player clearly kicking out at the Pompey striker.
After consulting with his assistant, referee Gallagher cautioned Silva – and showed Butt a straight red card.
Birmingham manager Steve Bruce confronted the referee as Gallagher left the pitch at half-time, complaining his midfielder had been manhandled by Silva.
However, the Uruguayan was at worst guilty of putting his arm across Butt's chest, rather than use of the elbow which was what an animated Bruce indicated to the Oxfordshire official.
As the teams returned to the pitch following the break, Birmingham sacrificed striker Mikael Forssell to bring Jamie Clapham into the defence and push Julian Gray further forward.
Portsmouth, though, soon settled into the ascendancy, and were awarded a free-kick when Pennant bundled over Gregory Vignal.
The delivery from the left found Priske at the near post, but the Dane could not direct his header on target.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Birmingham continued to put up a spirited display, and looked to utilise the pace of Pennant and Gray down the flanks.
In the 58th minute, Robert's delivery into the danger zone almost found Andy O'Brien as the home side started to build sustained periods of pressure once again.
The referee then missed what was a clear shirt pull by Olivier Tebily on Silva just inside the penalty area, which did not go down too well with the frustrated Fratton Park faithful.
Taylor produced a fine diving save to his left from O'Neil's strike after Robert had cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area in the 65th minute. With quarter of an hour left, LuaLua was given a rest and Norwegian Azar Karadas sent on.
Taylor saved well at the near post after the ball was worked out to Silva in space on the left side of the box, and Zvonimir Vukic blasted a great chance over when clean through on goal.
Pennant found the back of the stands with a late chance for Birmingham.
In stoppage time, Gary O'Neil stabbed a close-range effort agonisingly wide after Taylor had spilled Robert's free-kick.
And it will be Pompey who will feel more frustrated with the result, which leaves them still searching for a first home win of the season.
