Portsmouth 0-1 Everton

A late first half strike by Louis Saha secured all three points for Everton and condemned Portsmouth to their seventh straight defeat out of seven matches, a Premier League record.

In a scrappy first half of few chances, a long ball, which was inexplicably misjudged by Pompey defender Younes Kaboul, was literally taken on the chin by Saha and smashed left footed beyond David James for a well taken goal.

The Saha goal was the third genuine chance of the half following a sharp save by Tim Howard after Aruna Dindane had been put clear and a disappointing header by Marouane Fellaini when well placed which was saved by James’s boot.

Tales of dressing room disharmony and rumours of a manager who may have lost the dressing room were rejected after the interval however as Portsmouth dominated the second period creating a host of goal scoring opportunities.

The fact that Everton barley managed a meaningful shot on goal during the second half speaks volumes as the home side created and wasted chance after chance.

Just after the resumption of play, a corner delivered into the Everton box met the free head of Tal Ben-Haim who proceeded to place his header straight at Howard. The Everton keeper knew nothing about the save as the ball bounced of his shoulder and out for a corner.

Another corner half way through the second half again found the head of a Portsmouth player, in this case Aaron Mokoena who this time saw the crossbar prevent the ball from crossing the white line.

With the notorious home fans whipping themselves into a minor frenzy, Portsmouth surged forward with Everton content to place 9 men behind the ball. It was all set up for a last minute equalizer which almost came.

Yet another corner swung over into the box, again not dealt with by the Everton defence, and a free header by substitute Hassan Yebda was cleared off the line by Leighton Baines.

With the whistle at the referees lips and the crowd now wishing rather than hoping something would happen, much maligned midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng danced through a couple of tackles and drilled a low shot which initially looked to be heading directly into the bottom corner of the net before divine intervention from Howard who managed to get his body behind it.

At the final whistle some of the Portsmouth players slumped to the ground, exhausted and distraught, as if they had just been relegated from the Premier League, although the likelihood of this happening by May is odds on, their fighting performance may offer a glimmer of hope to fans players and management staff alike.