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  • LuaLua (41), Todorov (78)
  • Bellamy (32), Bellamy (62)
  • Date:2006-04-08
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:Fratton Park
  • Attendance:20048
  • Referee:Bennett, S

Live Commentary

90mins

The final whistle blows on an entertaining game at Fratton Park in which the result will surely favour the home side

88mins

Pompey push and push but Blackburn seem to be settling for the draw as they get 10 men behind the ball

86mins

The fourth official signals two minutes of added time

84mins

Pompey with all the play as they continue to pepper the Friedels goal

82mins

A slip from Stefanovic as he tries to clear leaves Bellamy to run on goal but his strike is wide right

80mins

Routledge wins the ball back for Pompey and tries to get the ball into the final third but it was a another poor pass off target

78mins

Todorov levels as he latched onto a near post cross from Taylor to flick the ball past Friedel

76mins

Dejan Stefanovic misses with his head from five yards as he fails to keep his header down

74mins

Dickov booked for a late challenge on Priske in the middle of the park

72mins

Taylor from the right wing centres but Friedel collects and tries to deliver early but a poor first touch from Gray means possession is lost

70mins

A header from Svetoslav Todorov but it's wide of the target and runs out for a goal kick

68mins

Plenty of effort on the pitch from both sets of players but still their is very little quality

66mins

Harry Redknapp standing shouting instructions at his players as their season could hinge on the final 25 minutes

64mins

Free-kick to Pompey as Brian Priske is tripped wide on the right

62mins

The ball flashes past Friedels left hand post after a great strike from Taylor. Pompey look to get back on level terms as they conitinue to push forward

60mins

Bellamy fires Blackburn into the lead with a sweet right footed volley from 15 yards

58mins

Sean Davis fires goalwards from distance, but it's a tame effort with Friedel gathering comfortably

56mins

The game suddenly ignites with flurry of quick-fire bookings

54mins

Mendes booked as Dickov reacts to an innocuous challenge and gets the Pompey man a yellow card

52mins

Another poor decision from the referee as Lua Lua is pulled down and his frustration boils over as he finds himself in the book for dissent

50mins

The ball strikes the arm of David Bentley inside his own box but much to the dismay of the home fans the referre waves play on

48mins

Lua Lua involved again as he fires the ball first time against the post but unfortunately the wrong side. Goal Kick

46mins

The second half gets underway here at Fratton Park

45mins

Half-time at Fratton park in what as been an entertaining first half with Pompey having the lionshare of possession

43mins

Both teams look to attack as they try to gain the advantage going into the break

41mins

Bellamy and Savage link well to break down the line but yet again the final ball is terrible and the move breaks down

39mins

Lua Lua levels for Pompey with a sweet right footed strike into the bottom corner of Friedels net

37mins

Benjani fires the ball straight at Friedel when faced with a one on one, another chance goes begging for Pompey as Redknapp's frustration grows

35mins

Pederson and Bellamy link up well on the edge of the Pompey box but the final ball again is poor and Primus manages to get a foot in and break up the danger

33mins

Portsmouth will feel aggrieved to be behind as they have bossed the game with Blackburn only registering the one strike at goal

31mins

Harry Redknapp charges out of his technical area screaming at Lua Lua as the striker once again is caught offside

29mins

Bellamy opens the scoring against the run of play with a fine individual effort, picking the ball up in the centre and driving towards goal before unleashing a fierce drive into the back of the net

27mins

Neill attempts to thread a ball through to Dickov but the ball is poorly executed and the defender picks it up. Blackburn have been lacking any real quality while in possession, as they continue to give the ball away cheaply

25mins

Lua Lua again finds himself in a good position but his shot is tame with Benjani waiting in the middle

23mins

An unbelievable period of play as Pompey see three golden chances to open the scoring go begging after a string of fine saves from Friedel

21mins

Pompey have started the livelier of the two teams, with Blackburn creating nothing in the final third

19mins

Benjani should of gambled on Andres D'Alessandro's low centre as the ball travels across the six yard box and out for a throw in.

17mins

Savage picks the ball up in the centre and sprays a loose ball wide, enabling Lua Lua to break after a great through ball from Mendes but the Pompey striker gets himself caught offside again.

15mins

Lua Lua breaks and finds himself one on one with Brad Friedal but the linesman raises the flag and saves Blackburn's blushes

13mins

openings are hard to come by so far as both teams are aware of the importance of three points here today

11mins

Benjani Mwaruwari skips past Zurab Khizanishvili but the Balckburn man uses his strength to wrestle Benjani off the ball

9mins

David Bentley with a surging run down the wing but is abrubtly stopped in his tracks by a crunching Linvoy Primus challange

7mins

Free-kick to Pompey from 30 yards wide on the right but the centre from Lucas Neill is poor and the ball is cleared

5mins

Ball down the line from Ryan Nelson trying to pick out Paul Dickov but it's over played and the ball runs out for a goal kick

3mins

An electric start from Pompey as they almost take an early lead as Pedro Mendes volleys just over the bar from just inside the box

1mins

A relaxed atmosphere with the sunshines over Fratton Park as the game gets underway

0mins

Blackburn arrive at Fratton Park today looking to close the gap on Arsenal and Spurs in the race for fourth spot while Portsmouth continue to try and pull off the great escape pull clear of the bottom three

Match Preview

Portsmouth's fantastic run of three consecutive victories has raised hopes of an escape from relegation, despite Pompey still being in the drop zone.

Harry Redknapp's side are just one point away from safety, having looked all but doomed before their wins over Manchester City, West Ham and Fulham.

Pompey have also found their scoring touch in recent weeks, despite the continued struggles of record signing Benjani Mwaruwari, who has yet to register since arriving from Auxerre.

He is doubtful for the visit of Rovers with a knee injury that curtailed his involvement in the 3-1 win at Fulham last time out.

Club physio Gary Sadler admitted: "He's in quite a lot of pain, so we've sent him to see a specialist as a precaution. Hopefully it will settle down."

Svetoslav Todorov stands by to deputise if Benjani fails to make it, while Dejan Stefanovic is challenging for a starting spot after coming on as a second-half sub against the Cottagers.

Blackburn arrive still hoping to nick fourth place in the Premiership and seal a place in next season's Champions League qualifiers.

Their prospects suffered a dip on Monday evening with a 1-1 home draw against Wigan Athletic, with Mark Hughes' side needing a controversial late equaliser to gain a point.

However, Hughes felt his side had performed okay, saying: "We had all of the play in the second half, we totally dominated and I felt that we did enough to win the game."

Hughes has few injury worries to contend with, although captain Andy Todd has now been sidelined for nearly a month.

Shefki Kuqi is pushing for a starting spot after netting the match-saver against the Latics, with Paul Dickov more likely to give way than the in-form Craig Bellamy.


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Match Report

Craig Bellamy produced two moments of magic to halt Portsmouth's surge away from the relegation zone.

Bellamy scored two crackers either side of half-time as Portsmouth hit back through Lomana LuaLua and Svetoslav Todorov 12 minutes from time.

Pompey boss Harry Redknapp was forced to make a pre-match defensive reshuffle as Andy O'Brien was ruled out after a calf injury failed to heal and in his place came club captain Dejan Stefanovic, returning after a five-week absence.

Pompey, with three wins out of three, looked full of confidence early on and throughout the entire first half dominated the game.

Blackburn, bidding for a Champions League spot for the first time in ten years, looked laboured as Andres D'Alessandro and Lua Lua tormented them.

It was a D'Alessandro cross inside the first two minutes which led to the first chance of the game, but when Sean Davis failed to control the ball in front of goal, Steven Reid made a timely interception.

From the resulting corner Pedro Mendes lashed a volley just wide.

Fifteen minutes later Gary O'Neil out-muscled Michael Gray on the right-hand side and crossed for D'Alessandro but the Argentine midfielder scuffed his chance wide.

Full-back Brian Priske, showing why Italian giants Sampdoria are interested in him, drove towards the by-line and crossed again for D'Alessandro who was hanging back at the far post and, after his volley was clawed out by Brad Friedel in the Blackburn goal, Mendes fired another volley just wide.

Pompey continued to press the Blackburn back four and LuaLua was guilty of being greedy on 23 minutes when his right-foot effort from a tight angle was saved by Friedal but the Congo striker should have pulled the ball back to Benjani Mwaruwari.

Nine minutes later though Bellamy was to confound Pompey's early dominance as Mendes lost the ball to Robbie Savage in the middle of the park. The Welsh striker was able to progress with pace past a sluggish Stefanovic and flat-footed Linvoy Primus before curling a delightful finish into the far corner which Dean Kiely could do little about.

The much-maligned Benjani was guilty of wasting the best chance of the half five minutes before the break as D'Alessandro's majestic ball over the top found the Zimbabwean striker but he and team-mate O'Neil got into a muddle and as the ball broke, Pompey's record buy simply fired his effort straight at Friedel.

Two minutes later the home side deservedly levelled. A poor corner from the right by D'Alessandro was picked up by Lu Lua who shrugged off challenges from Savage and Zurab Khizanishvili as he tip-toed along the 18-yard line before curling the ball into the far corner and celebrating with three back-flips.

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes pulled off Michael Gray at the interval replacing him with Aaron Mokoena and Rovers began to look more like the Champions League contenders they were billed as.

David Bentley, who had a poor first half, moved into midfield and it was his run that set up Bellamy's and Blackburn's second. The former Arsenal youngster drove a right-footed cross into the Welsh striker's path and, as he turned onto his left foot, Primus stood off and the ball flew into the top corner.

Thirteen minutes later Stefanovic missed an even better chance than Benjani's first-half effort as he somehow headed over unmarked from three yards from a D'Alessandro free-kick.

Substitute striker Todorov showed the Serb the way to goal two minutes later as Matthew Taylor skipped inside Mokoena and delivered a perfect cross for the Bulgarian to level.

Blackburn thought they'd won it at the death but referee Steve Bennett spotted Brett Emerton's blatant handball at the far post.

Portsmouth

Blackburn Rovers

Corners

73

Fouls

1212

Goal attempts

234

Shots off target

111

Offsides

85

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