WHO rated - who didn't
Wanderers 1, PORTSMOUTH 0.
WANDERERS
4-3-3
JUSSI JAASKELAINEN ... 7
A couple of vital second half saves; his diving stop from Smertin's shot was impressive and hugely important.
Nicky Hunt ... 8
Impressive once again; it says everything about the youngster that he'll be missed if he gets another booking and a ban.
BRUNO N'GOTTY ... 7
Solid work at the back; the epitiome of cool in the first half but had some desperate defending to do in the second.
EMERSON THOME ... 7
Worked hard to keep Pompey at bay and deserved the luck he got when he deflected Yakubu's shot onto the post.
ANTHONY BARNESS ... 8
Outstanding, considering he thought he was a West Ham player 24 hours earlier and was playing out of position -- again.
KEVIN NOLAN ... 7
Had a poor first half but his stamina and determination came into its own in a tireless second .
IVAN CAMPO ... 8
"Top drawer" was Allardyce's assessment of the midfielder anchor man who wanted to be at the heart of everything.
JAY-JAY OKCOHA ... 6
By his own admission, the skipper has not been at his best for a while but his presence is an inspiration in itself.
JAVI MORENO ... 6
Spurned an early chance and showed some promising touches but found the Premiership pace hard going in his first start.
KEVIN DAVIES ... 7
Delighted to end a seven-match scoreless run, especially against the "old enemy" from his Southampton days.
YOURI DJORKAEFF ... 7
So unlucky to find the inconsistent Hislop at his best with two second half strikes; two decent penalty shouts too.
Subs: Ba (6) for Moreno 61 mins, Henrik Pedersen for Djorkaeff 84 mins, Stelios for Okocha 91 mins. Not used: Simon Charlton, Kevin Poole.
PORTSMOUTH
4-3-1-2
SHAKA HISLOP ... 7
LINVOY PRIMUS ... 6
ARJAN DE ZEEUW ... 7
PETR PASANEN ... 7
DEJAN STEFANOVIC ... 6
ALEXEI SMERTIN ... 8
RICHARD HUGHES ... 7
PATRICK BERGER ... 6
EYAL BERKOVIC ... 7
TEDDY SHERINGHAM ... 6
YAKUBU AYEGBENI ... 6
Subs: Kevin Harper for Primus 77 mins, Matthew Taylor for Hughes 77 mins.
Not used: Harold Wapenaar, Carl Robinson, Anthony Pulis.
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffs).
Attendance: 26,558.
Goal: Davies 53 mins.
Shots/headers on target: Wanderers 5, Portsmouth 3.
Corners: Wanderers 2, Portsmouth 2.
Offsides: Wanderers 1, Portsmouth 4.
Fouls committed: Wanderers 10, Portsmouth 13.
Bookings: Wanderers -- Okocha 58 mins (off ball clash with Sheringham);
Portsmouth -- Hughes 58 mins (foul on Campo).
Red card: Stefanovic 90 mins (foul and abusive language).
MAN OF THE MATCH
IVAN CAMPO
Sometimes it wasn't pretty and is certainly was not elegant but the big man
wanted to be at the heart of everything; close with a header and made some
telling contributions on the defensive side.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
"It looks like you have to commit grievous bodily harm to get a penalty at
the Reebok!" So said Allardyce reflecting on three fruitless appeals. "The
first -- perhaps not; but Linvoy Primus definitely handled and the foul on
Nicky Hunt was a stonewaller!"
MAGIC MOMENT
It looked like game, set and match to Wanderers as Hunt delivered the
perfect cross for Djorkaeff to meet with a back-post volley but Hislop stood
up well and blocked the shot to keep the game in the balance.
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