Portsmouth	2 - 1	Man City
Scorers Pedro Mendes 5 Kanu 81  Booked Cole 27 Pamarot 78 Kanu 86	Half Time ( 1 - 0 )	Scorers Corradi 62  Booked Dabo 30 Barton 41 Corradi 87

Portsmouth welcomed back Traore, Cole, LuaLua and Taylor as they looked to keep up their hopes of a European spot with a win against a City side who haven’t tasted an away victory this year. And they got their just rewards with a win which leaves their visitors with just eight wins and 30 points from 26 games.

They got off to the perfect start when Pedro Mendes opened the scoring after just five minutes with a brilliant left-footed volley from 20 yards. As the ball came out to him on the edge of the area, he took one touch to control it and take the ball away from the challenging Dabo and then hit a stunning shot with his second touch.
It was a shame for him that after such a promising game, his poor record of injuries against City continued when he was taken off on a stretcher following a nasty foul from England new boy Joey Barton. The City midfielder recklessly challenged from behind and attacked Mendes’ Achilles heel with his studs while simultaneously looking to jump into his back; and received a yellow card for his efforts.

But after the opening goal, Portsmouth didn’t want to sit back. Mendes hit another shot which brought a save from the keeper who was then forced into another theatrical save from Taylor as Pompy continued to push forward.

City had enough of the ball but struggled to do much with it as they spent too much time defending and found it difficult to push forward. Distin looked to have wasted a good scoring chance when he didn’t get to a cross into the box, but replays showed that the ball hit Traore’s flailing arm as both players challenged.
The visitors looked to end the half on a high and nearly grabbed an equaliser just before the break when Corradi’s header forced an excellent save from the goalkeeper, but he couldn’t find the back of the net and Pompy went in 1-0 up at the interval.

Corradi at last managed to get on the scoresheet after a number of blank games when he converted Darius Vassell’s cross after 62 minutes with a neat finish.
But after containing Portsmouth for so long, City found it difficult to keep the momentum going up front and the home side started to dominate again.
The keeper was forced into an excellent save from Lauren as the ex-Arsenal man looked to score from close range, but he denied them another goal to keep them in the game. The City defence looked disorganised and left too many holes as the team pushed forward up front and were stretched at the back.

They were punished nine minutes from time when substitute Kanu came off the bench to score the winner. After a good through pass from Glen Johnson on the edge of the area, Kanu found himself in plenty of space and with plenty of time as the City defence seemed reluctant to mark the opposition in their own penalty area. The Nigerian shot across the goalmouth and into the far corner of the net for the winner to leave City thinking of the point that got away.

Portsmouth’s victory keeps them in seventh position and despite Harry Redknapp being sent to the stands in the second half, he must’ve been pleased with the game as his side picked up their first win in six games.

Stuart Pearce has his work cut out of the next few months. Despite having such a good home record, City don’t seem to be able to play consistently well on their travels and today’s defeat sees them drop down to 16th place, just 10 points above relegation. With six away games still to play this season, including City’s next league match against Arsenal, his eyes will be constantly over his shoulder as well as on the England under-21 side.


Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Pamarot, Campbell, Traore (Kranjcar 71), O'Neil, Davis, Pedro Mendes (Lauren 44), Taylor, Cole (Kanu 71), LuaLua.

Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Douala.

Man City: Isaksson, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Jihai (Samaras 87), Barton, Ireland (Beasley 61), Dabo, Ball, Corradi, Vassell (Miller 79).

Subs Not Used: Hart, Hamann.

Att: 19,344

Ref: M Dean (Wirral).

By Ben Hughes