Defoe penalty stuns Black Cats

Moment of madness from Senegalese striker gifts points

By Hayley Paterson   Last updated: 8th November 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Defoe penalty stuns Black Cats

Defoe: Winning pen

Moment of the match: Has to be the penalty in the dying minutes of the game. Stonewall pen after a 'typical striker's challenge' from sub El-Hadji Diouf and Defoe kept his nerve to bag the points.

Attempt of the match: Kieran Richardson had the chance to double Sunderland's early lead in the 16th minute as his drive cannoned off the post.

Save of the match: It was all Sunderland in the first half as Cisse had a header superbly saved from David James who tipped the goal-bound effort over the bar.

Talking point: Has to be the penalty, most Sunderland fans must be wondering why Diouf lunged for the ball after doing so well to track back. He felt it was a bad decision and left the officials know.

Goal of the game: On-loan attacking defender Belhadj's strike to equalise was a clinical finish and easily beat Fulop.

Man of the match: Cisse a possible contender but failed to convert chances he made for himself. Plenty of players deserve credit such as Reid, Belhadj, Defoe and Richardson.

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A Jermain Defoe penalty at the death claimed all three points and Tony Adams' first win for Portsmouth in a 2-1 success over Sunderland after a reckless challenge in the box from substitute El-Hadji Diouf.

The game looked to be ending in a draw after on-loan wing-back Nadir Belhadj cancelled out Djibril Cisse's fourth minute goal with a superb second-half strike.

But the drama unfolded as Glen Johnson found himself in the box, he tried to beat Diouf and the Senegalese had a rush of blood to the head as he brought down the right-back and gifted the penalty.

Defoe kept his cool in injury-time as he slotted home the winning penalty to give Adams' his first win as Pompey boss.

Five changes

Roy Keane shook up his Sunderland side hoping to bounce back from their previous two Premier League defeats with five changes - including Djibril Cisse.

The inspired selection seemed to take immediate affect when the Frenchman opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Andy Reid's glorious through ball from his own half saw Cisse hold off Sol Campbell to slot through the legs of David James.

Portsmouth might have been level within a minute when Peter Crouch chested down Lassana Diarra's cross beyond the far post and squared for Defoe, but his effort was charged down by Anton Ferdinand.

The Black Cats then seemed to grow in strength with some promising attacks. One in particular left them inches away from doubling their lead as Kieran Richardson's left-footed effort hammered back from the post, with James beaten.

Minutes later, Cisse should have bagged his second of the game but for a great reaction save from James to tip his header over the bar.

Portsmouth might have fallen further behind when Reid once again split their defence to find Cisse, but this time James managed to parry his shot.

Campbell's long free-kick three minutes before half-time caused the Black Cats problems when first Nyron Nosworthy and then Ferdinand headed the ball straight up in the air, but Crouch was unable to capitalise.

Level

After the interval, Portsmouth took control from the start and drew level through wing-back Belhadj in the 51st minute.

The Algeria defender, on loan from Lens, collected Niko Kranjcar's pass and blasted a curling low shot into the bottom corner past Marton Fulop.

Sunderland's composure dissolved in an instant and they might have been behind within two minutes had Defoe been more accurate as he fired wide and then made some good positions for himself on the edge of the box.

The ball did finish in the net from striker Cisse, but his header was rightly disallowed for offside midway through the half.

As the game entered its final 20 minutes, Sunderland were again in control, although Pompey, who had replaced Crouch with Kanu, continued to threaten on the break.

Defoe was denied by Fulop with three minutes remaining, but he made no mistake when, after Johnson had been tripped by Diouf, he sent the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot to snatch victory.

SunderlandTeam StatisticsPortsmouth
1Goals2
11st Half Goals0
5Shots on Target4
3Shots off Target4
1Blocked Shots3
8Corners3
10Fouls10
7Offsides2
2Yellow Cards1
0Red Cards0
82Passing Success79.6
42Tackles24
85.7Tackles Success83.3
50.8Possession49.2
47.9Territorial Advantage52.1
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