Source: Eurosport
Johnson off but Pompey pinch point
Ten-man Portsmouth survived a horror show from England star Glen Johnson to claim a 1-1 draw with Premier League relegation rivals Hull City.Johnson may have felt aggrieved to have been dismissed late in the game after an innocuous collision with Dean Marney, but could already have been sent off after a number of earlier indiscretions.The right-back also gifted Hull their best opportunity but David James saved brilliantly from Craig Fagan's powerful header.Pompey almost snatched victory in the fourth minute of injury time when Hermann Hreidarsson rose to meet a free-kick but headed against the post.The result was not enough to lift either side out of relegation danger but at least inched them a point further away from the bottom three.Portsmouth had the first attempt on goal but Peter Crouch's acrobatic volley did not match his midweek effort against Ukraine, flying high and wide.Niko Kranjcar then played a nice ball for David Nugent as the visitors sought an early breakthrough but the offside flag was raised.Johnson then won a free-kick on the right after clashing with Fagan but was fortunate not to be booked then for his angry reaction.Kranjcar crossed from the resulting set-piece but Andy Dawson headed away and then cleared at the second attempt.Hull enjoyed some good possession too and looked to whip in early crosses but were unable to trouble the Portsmouth defence or goalkeeper James.Geovanni had a shooting opportunity from 20 yards but missed the target and Manucho also volleyed over from a Bernard Mendy cross.Johnson then did see yellow after going to ground in a tangle with Kamil Zayatte and kicking out at the Hull defender.He courted more controversy little more than a minute later for a crude challenge on Geovanni but was given just a warning by referee Chris Foy.Geovanni swung the resulting free-kick into the area but his cross just beat the head of Manucho and Pompey hacked clear.Enjoying a good spell, Hull then won another free-kick on the left and James had to punch away a dangerous Geovanni cross.Portsmouth survived that period on the back foot and missed a good chance to take the lead when Crouch nodded on a Kranjcar corner and Younes Kaboul headed over from close range.Manucho found space for Hull just before half-time but shot well over.Hull continued to deliver crosses at every opportunity and a good centre by Mendy almost picked out Nick Barmby early in the second half.Portsmouth responded in the same way but Nugent headed over from a Crouch delivery.Ian Ashbee volleyed wide for Hull after a Portsmouth clearance from another cross fell to the midfielder on the edge of the area.Johnson almost played his side into trouble just after the hour when he headed back into his own area and Fagan pounced, but James brilliantly palmed away the forward's powerful header.Portsmouth then came forward with Zayatte forced to clear behind for a corner and Kranjcar blazing across the face of goal.Johnson was given his marching orders after 80 minutes after colliding with Hull substitute Marney, but this time he seemed to have been the innocent party.Johnson was running across the edge of the Hull area when Marney challenged and appeared to catch the Portsmouth player in his attempt to clear.Yet having previously warned Johnson and seeing Marney go down, Foy had no hesitation this time in taking out a second yellow card.Hull tried to take advantage of the situation and sent on Republic of Ireland striker Caleb Folan but Pompey went the closest to snatching a winner when Hreidarsson's last-gasp header shaved the woodwork.[LNB]
