A Jermain Defoe penalty claimed Tony Adams' first win for Portsmouth in a 2-1 success at Sunderland.
Moment of madness from Senegalese striker gifts points
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.
| Sunderland |
Team Statistics |
Portsmouth |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 5 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 8 |
Corners |
3 |
| 10 |
Fouls |
10 |
| 7 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 2 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 82 |
Passing Success |
79.6 |
| 42 |
Tackles |
24 |
| 85.7 |
Tackles Success |
83.3 |
| 50.8 |
Possession |
49.2 |
| 47.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.1 |
|
