Pompey stun St James' Park

Benjani: Pompey's second

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Three goals in four first half minutes helped Portsmouth end their 58-year St James' Park winless run with a stunning 4-1 victory over Newcastle.

Pompey were in front on eight minutes when Noe Pamarot stunned the home crowd with a thunderous 30-yard effort from a half cleared corner.

The visitors then doubled their advantage one minute later when Benjani Mwaruwari held off Claudio Cacapa to brilliantly curl in for his eighth goal in 11 Premier League games.

With the Newcastle faithful thinking things could not get any worse, John Utaka then latched on to another Cacapa mistake to round Steve Harper in the Newcastle goal and roll in on 11 minutes.

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce responded by substituting Cacapa and on 16 minutes his side had a lifeline when Pompey defender Sol Campbell was unfortunate to deflect into his own net after goalkeeper David James had saved well from Michael Owen.

Prior to Newcastle's goal, Pompey had felt aggrieved they were not awarded a penalty when David Rozehnal - who had replaced Cacapa - appeared to handle in his own box from a corner.

Newcastle introduced Obafemi Martins in the second half as they looked to fire their way back into the match, but it was Pompey who netted a fourth when a Niko Kranjcar free-kick brushed the shin of Steven Taylor to sneak past Harper.

Astonishing

Sam Allardyce had admitted in the wake of last Saturday's debacle at Reading that his side's home record was keeping them afloat and, while he acknowledged Pompey's visit to St James' Park would present them with their greatest test yet, few could have expected what was to transpire in an astonishing opening to the game.

Having made five changes to the team which under-achieved at the Madejski Stadium, the manager had hoped for a rousing start; what he got was a collapse which set new standards even for a club which has made an art form of committing defensive suicide over the years.

If Pamarot's eighth-minute opener, a 30-yard missile, was the result of individual brilliance, not to mention brute force, the contributions of Benjani and Utaka to a 3-0 scoreline with just 11 minutes gone owed much to horrific inadequacies in the Newcastle rearguard.

The ease with which the normally assured Cacapa was muscled off the ball by Benjani on nine minutes was embarrassing, and things were to get worse for the Brazilian within two minutes when he was brushed off by the powerful Utaka to leave stunned goalkeeper Harper, in for the injured Shay Given, helpless.

Allardyce left the comfort of the stand to head for the dug-out within seconds of the third goal, and swiftly replaced Cacapa with Rozehnal as he looked to stem the tide and instigate a recovery.

His side's approach was far more prosaic than that of the visitors, but it paid dividends after 15 minutes when, after James had blocked Charles N'Zogbia's shot and Owen's follow-up, the ball ricocheted into the empty net off the unfortunate Campbell.

The England goalkeeper had to get down well to keep out Taylor's drive at the foot of the post five minutes later, although he was rarely troubled to the same extent as the Magpies gradually worked their way back into the game.

Wilted

N'Zogbia wasted a 53rd-minute free-kick when he curled a shot high over James' bar after Butt had been felled by Sean Davis, and the Frenchman found himself operating as an emergency full-back again after 57 minutes.

The openings finally started to materialise and James was forced to save from Owen and Alan Smith in quick succession, although Harper needed to be on his toes to keep out a 68th-minute Kranjcar header.

But their hopes wilted and died with 20 minutes remaining when Kranjcar's free-kick from wide on the left by-passed Taylor and Abdoulaye Faye to wrong-foot Harper and end up in the net.

Indeed, Portsmouth might have won even more comfortably had substitute Kanu decided to shoot early after being played in 11 minutes from time, his hesitation allowing Harper to spare his defenders further wrath.

The chorus of disapproval which rang around St James' as the players trudged off told its own story and left Allardyce in little doubt as to what is expected at local rivals Sunderland next week.