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The game got off to a flying start as within seconds, Danny
Murphy tapped home the opener from a couple of yards out.
Dimitar Berbatov had caused havoc in the six-yard box causing
David James to spill the ball, though there looked to be a
foul by the striker who pressurised Glen Johnson into falling
before Murphy rebounded the ball into the goal.
It has been hard to score past Pompey this season, and Spurs
were in some ways lucky to get such an early goal to ease
the pressure off their shoulders. They didn't relax however,
and before the end of the half, Zokora went on a mazey run
which saw him played into the box. He swiveled before falling,
though there was no contact with former Spurs midfielder Pedro
Mendes. It was simply deceit, and the referee pointed to the
spot. Jermain Defoe stepped up confidently and sent the ball
low and hard into the net.
Portsmouth quickly got back into the match, as O' Neill managed
to deliver a superb cross for Nwankwo Kanu, who completely
unmarked, headed easily into the goal. This was a slip-up
from Michael Dawson, ironically the man of the match who performed
magnificently throughout the rest of the game.
There were efforts on either goal, notably from Murphy and
Jenas who forced great diving stops from James.
Niko Kranjcar was extremely lively on the left for Portsmouth,
and his runs and shots proved dangerous, though Robinson was
ready. Hossam Ghaly had a tough job of dealing with him in
the second half, as he moved into the right-back slot following
a poor first half from Chimbonda. Ghaly became necessarily
more physical and along with Michael Dawson, put his body
in front of everything.
Pompey pressurised at the end, and Hossam Ghaly's header
back to Robinson was a little wayward and went out for a corner.
The resulting corner led to a big collision which saw Dawson
suffer concussion and Huddlestone bleed his way into a new
shirt. Lua Lua could have got the equaliser when he struck
at goal but Robinson saved.
Ghaly and Mido may well both feature in the next game, and
have just been called up to the next Egyptian national team
game...
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