Crisis club Portsmouth remained four points adrift at the foot of the English Premier League as Birmingham gained revenge on their FA Cup conquerors with a 2-1 win at Fratton Park on Tuesday.

Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, beat Birmingham 2-0 at their south coast home on Saturday to reach the last four of this season's edition thanks to two goals from Frederic Piquionne.

But there was no repeat performance as Birmingham moved up to eighth in the table thanks to a double from striker Cameron Jerome.

Nwanko Kanu, who scored Portsmouth's winning goal in their FA Cup final win over Cardiff two years ago, pulled a goal back in stoppage-time but it came too late to prevent victory for the visitors.

Portsmouth are due to return to the High Court on March 15 to answer a winding-up order brought by British tax authorities.

If a judge decides Portsmouth cannot overcome debts said to be totalling 76 million pounds (115 million dollars) they could be liquidated and go out of business completely.

In the day's other English top flight clash, Darren Bent's first Premier League hat-trick inspired Sunderland to a 4-0 win over Bolton - the north-east side's first league win since November 21.

A victory that started with Fraizer Campbell's first minute goal at the Stadium of Light moved Sunderland six points clear of the relegation zone.