Source: Team_Talk
Rovers fail to beat 10-man Pompey
Ten-man Portsmouth earned a temporary stay of execution from Premier League relegation as they held Blackburn to a 0-0 draw at Fratton Park.[LNB] Rovers enjoyed by far the better chances as David Dunn and Christopher Samba both hit the post in the first half.[LNB]Pompey's depleted squad suffered another hit when they lost Anthony Vanden Borre for their FA Cup semi-final with Tottenham, after he was sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour.[LNB]Pompey boss Avram Grant went into the game without 13 first-team regulars and was forced to pad his six-man substitutes' bench with youth team players.[LNB]They added another injury worry to their list after four minutes, when makeshift centre back Aaron Mokoena pulled up with a twisted knee.[LNB]With Grant's options so limited on the bench, the South African midfielder knew he had to stay on the pitch and performed well out of position.[LNB]Pompey's only chance to score early on came when John Utaka raced clear on the left, only to cut inside and drive a low shot straight at Robinson.[LNB]Blackburn's first opportunity came after 13 minutes, when a Morten Gamst Pedersen free-kick fell to Christopher Samba, after Pompey goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown made a poor attempt to punch the ball clear.[LNB]With Rovers slowly turning up the heat on the Fratton Park outfit, El-Hadji Diouf picked out Jason Roberts with a superb pass inside the box after 19 minutes.[LNB]But the former West Brom man was promptly dispossessed by Mokoena and the former Rovers player knocked the ball to safety.[LNB]On-loan Pompey midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who sat out last Saturday's trip to his parent club Tottenham, nearly marked his return to the side with a goal after 28 minutes.[LNB]Kanu found Utaka in space on the left and the Nigerian picked out O'Hara, but his header was beautifully nodded off the line by Gael Givet.[LNB]Blackburn continued to press and Dunn came within inches of giving them the lead, when his low left-footed strike from the left corner of the box hit the outside of the far post.[LNB]Rovers should have gone in 1-0 at the break, when a Pedersen free kick found Samba unmarked in the box in first-half stoppage time, but his header found the post and Pompey scrambled the ball clear.[LNB]Pompey started the second half the brighter of the two sides, but their efforts to take charge suffered a crushing blow on the hour, when they were reduced to ten men by referee Steve Bennett.[LNB]Anthony Vanden Borre was booked shortly before the break for a foul on Blackburn's Steven Nzonzi.[LNB]Grant will have been fuming to then see him blatantly handle a ball down the Pompey flank and receive a cheap second yellow card for deliberate handball.[LNB]His subsequent one-game ban rules him out of his side's FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham next weekend and deepens his manager's selection woes.[LNB]Roberts should have rubbed salt into the wounds by firing Blackburn ahead after 69 minutes.[LNB]Diouf spun Pompey substitute Lennard Sowah to find him with a low cross from the right, but Roberts turned and shot straight at Ashdown five yards from goal.[LNB]Allardyce's men threw bodies forward in search of a winner.[LNB]A string of balls into the Pompey box failed to trouble the home side and Kanu nearly made Rovers pay for their wastefulness after 85 minutes.[LNB]O'Hara tricked his way past Michel Salgado on the Pompey left, but Kanu hooked his cross high over the bar.[LNB]Despite Pompey failing to win, Stoke's triumph at home to Hull means the South Coast strugglers are safe from relegation for now.
