Source: Daily_Mail
Portsmouth 2 Liverpool 0: Reds continue hunt for investment
Liverpool will redouble their efforts to find new investors this week after lurching deeper into crisis with their seventh defeat in 18 games.[LNB]Rafa Benitez will be sitting uncomfortably as Liverpool contemplate their next step. The club are desperate to raise funds from a £100million share issue before January but reservations remain among potential investors about the malaise under Benitez.[LNB]A woeful display at Portsmouth left Benitez arguing that Javier Mascherano's red card before half-time had been the turning point. It wasn't. Mascherano faces a four-match ban and damaged his medial ligament in the process.[LNB] Empty handed: Benitez walked away from Fratton Park with another defeat[LNB] The performances of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard raised more doubts over their long-term fitness while £20m signing Alberto Aquilani did not even travel because of a calf injury.[LNB]Benitez has promised a top-four finish but on this evidence his claim is that of a fantasist and the pressure is building for change. [LNB]His theatrics after the final whistle didn't help, as he refused to speak to the press and would only say, with heavy sarcasm, that referee Lee Mason had been 'perfect'. The excuses are starting to wear thin.[LNB]Liverpool were 1-0 down and floundering when Mascherano's frustration boiled over and he made a reckless, vicious challenge on Tal Ben Haim. [LNB]Torres spent the afternoon behaving petulantly as he struggled to cope with the icy conditions and lack of service. He was lucky to escape a second yellow card for elbowing Ben Haim.[LNB]Avram Grant, meanwhile, is becoming something of a nemesis for Benitez. Portsmouth's victory preserved manager Grant's unbeaten record against Liverpool and was his third win in five matches against the Merseyside club.[LNB] Ecstatic: Portsmouth's Michael Brown (left) and Younes Kaboul (right) congratulate Nadir Belhadji[LNB] Victory for the Premier League's bottom club against one of the so-called 'big four' prompted Grant to go for a little walkabout and he smiled as he soaked up the crowd's warm applause.[LNB]Portsmouth may still be bottom of the league, but they have earned seven points from Grant's last four games in charge. He even had a veiled swipe at Benitez's tactics, saying: 'If you want to play good football you'll win more games than if you come to play negative football.[LNB]'It's a very tough job, a big, big challenge. We also have to fight against the statistic that the team that is bottom at Christmas gets relegated. It's one of my biggest challenges, for sure.'[LNB]But Grant has shown himself to be shrewd and he may have a few words of advice for Fabio Capello when the pair meet for lunch this week.[LNB]Down and out: Captain Stephen Gerrard after Portsmouth's second goal[LNB] The Portsmouth boss used Nadir Belhadj on the left wing to negate the attacking threat of Glen Johnson, urging the midfielder to nip in behind the England right back. This caused Liverpool all sorts of problems as Jamie Carragher had to scamper across to bail out his wandering team-mate.[LNB]If the same happens when Belhadj's Algeria meet Capello's side in Cape Town on June 18, England may have a problem. Grant said: 'Glen Johnson is the best full back at going forward and creating things and also I knew Belhadj is quick to go behind and score or give assists. He did a good job.'[LNB]Belhadj gave Portsmouth the lead with an exquisite right-foot finish from a tight angle after 33 minutes. Pepe Reina parried Kevin-Prince Boateng's shot but only as far as Johnson, who headed the ball straight to Belhadj and was punished.[LNB]The hosts' second goal was equally impressive, as Frederic Piquionne sealed victory eight minutes from time when he turned Carragher and volleyed in Boateng's cross at the near post.[LNB]Jamie O'Hara said: 'When Piquionne makes himself a bit of a bully, he is really hard to deal with. To pop up with a finish like that shows his quality.[LNB]'You need to have someone up there who is strong. The teams around us have that big target man Kevin[LNB]Davies or Carlton Cole-type players. Now we have that. Fred can hold the ball up, win tackles and score goals.'[LNB] LIVERPOOL FC
