Bert Posted 12 December 2005 Share Posted 12 December 2005 Portsmouth's reappointment of Harry Redknapp as their manager failed to produce an immediate dividend as Tottenham came from behind to win. Lomana Tresor LuaLua gave Pompey a first-half lead, hitting an unstoppable half-volley past Paul Robinson. Spurs pulled level when Ledley King rose to head home from a corner and after Gary O'Neil's handball, Mido sidefooted home an 85th minute penalty. Substitute Jermain Defoe wrapped up the win, scoring from a difficult angle. The win moved Spurs three points clear of fifth-placed Bolton. At the other end of the table things look more bleak for Portsmouth, who remain second from bottom, six points behind 17th-placed West Brom. On the plus side Portsmouth showed plenty of grit, a quality they will need to reproduce if they are to clamber out of the relegation zone. Redknapp deployed Vincent Pericard as a lone striker, but playing for the first time in the Premiership this season, he found the role hard work. Pericard's inability to hold up the ball in those opening stages saw the Portsmouth defence come under sustained pressure. Yong-Pyo Lee's pass exposed a yawning gap in the Portsmouth defence to find Robbie Keane, but he shot straight at Ashdown. Edgar Davids was the next Spurs player to probe the space between Andy O'Brien and Linvoy Primus, his clever pass freeing Mido, who also shot directly at Ashdown. Ashdown's best save of the first half came when Keane threatened for a second time. The Portsmouth keeper did well to stand up to Keane, taking the sting out of the Irishman's attempted lob, and Dejan Stefanovic was able to clear the ball. Completely against the run of the play LuaLua put Portsmouth in front with a stunning individual effort. There had seemed no danger when O'Neil hit a speculative pass into the Spurs half. But Lee, under pressure from LuaLua, was unable to clear and after the ball bounced the Portsmouth forward struck a fiercely hit first-time shot that zipped past a startled Robinson. The goal served to instill more confidence in Portsmouth and for the first time Pericard threatened, striding into the Spurs area before he was crowded out. Early in the second half Ashdown came under renewed pressure from a couple of set pieces and he did well to twice punch clear. But Ashdown could do nothing about the Spurs equaliser when King rose to steer a header past the Portsmouth goalkeeper. Soon afterwards Robinson showed superb reactions to palm away Matthew Taylor's first-time shot. With just five minutes remaining O'Neil jumped in an attempt to block Andy Reid's free-kick and referee Uriah Rennie immediately awarded a penalty. Ashdown got a hand to Mido's shot, but the Egyptian striker's effort had to much power for the Portsmouth keeper. Defoe heaped further misery on Portsmouth, driving the ball past Ashdown from a difficult angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libertine Posted 12 December 2005 Share Posted 12 December 2005 Good goal by Lualua. Kind of wanted Pompey to win. But oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted 12 December 2005 Share Posted 12 December 2005 Never a penalty, but i wanted a Spurs win anyway so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationwider Posted 12 December 2005 Share Posted 12 December 2005 I'm struggling to take 'Arry or Portsmouth seriously these days and I'd like someone to keep some heat on the Big 4, so I'm glad Spurs won this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The People's Hero Posted 17 December 2005 Share Posted 17 December 2005 Hopefully Pompey will go down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anish Posted 19 December 2005 Share Posted 19 December 2005 Hopefully Pompey will go down. Yep, and make Harry take 2 teams down in two consecutive seasons Has that ever happened before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.