- Belhadj (33), Piquionne (82)
- Date:2009-12-19
- Kick-off:12:45
- Venue:Fratton Park
- Attendance:20534
- Referee:Mason, L
Live Commentary
94mins
Portsmouth claim maximum points against a below-par Liverpool side.
92mins
Nwankwo Kanu replaces goalscorer Frederic Piquionne.
90mins
Hayden Mullins replaces Kevin-Prince Boateng.
88mins
Lucas Leiva is replaced by Jay Spearing for Liverpool
86mins
Nadir Belhadj shows good perseverence to clear the ball away for Portsmouth.
84mins
The Portsmouth fans are in good voice.
82mins
Frederic Piquionne shoots home across Jose Manuel Reina after Kevin-Prince Boateng gets his cross in.
79mins
Jamie Carragher shoots high over the bar from inside the box.
77mins
Fernando Torres breaks into the box and is only halted by some frantic Portsmouth defending.
76mins
Yossi Benayoun looks to be limping. Has he picked up a knock?
74mins
Frederic Piquionne heads wide from close range.
72mins
Kevin-Prince Boateng slips as he looks to cross the ball and his effort is blocked.
70mins
Jamie O'Hara's speculative turn-and-shot is wide of the upright.
68mins
Fabio Aurelio replaces Emiliano Insua.
66mins
Asmir Begovic makes a great one-handed save from Steven Gerrard's doubly-deflected strike.
64mins
Tal Ben Haim has picked up a knock in a challenge with Fernando Torres.
62mins
Hassan Yebda's cross just goes out of play on its way into the area.
60mins
Glen Johnson is shown yellow for a challenge on Jamie O'Hara.
58mins
Younes Kaboul shakes off his man but his shot is high of the target.
56mins
Fernando Torres goes into the referee's notebook.
56mins
Jamie Carragher makes a great challenge to block Frederic Piquionne's strike.
55mins
Hassan Yebda tries his luck from distance but shoots over.
53mins
Yossi Benayoun replaces Andrea Dossena.
51mins
Andrea Dossena's shot deflects into the arms of Asmir Begovic.
49mins
Jamie O'Hara's cross-field pass rolls out harmlessly for a throw-in.
47mins
Lucas Leiva is booked for a challenge on Michael Brown.
47mins
Fernando Torres cross is cleared away by Younes Kaboul.
45mins
The second half gets underway.
45mins
Portsmouth come out on top in a scrappy first half.
45mins
Hassan Yebda is shown yellow.
44mins
Javier Mascherano is shown red for that chellenge on Tal Ben Haim. The Argentine is helped off the pitch.
43mins
Javier Mascherano looks to be struggling.
41mins
Javier Mascherano has hurt himself in a tackle with Tal Ben Haim.
41mins
The tackles are beginning toi fly in in this game.
38mins
Daniel Agger's stooping header from Steven Gerrard's cross is inches over the bar.
36mins
Andrea Dossena is given a talking too by the referee after giving the ref the benfit of his views.
33mins
Nadir Belhadj slams the ball home from a tight angle after latching onto Glen Johnson's poor clearance.
31mins
Kevin-Prince Boateng tries to feed Hassan Yebda with his back to goal but can't find his man.
28mins
Hassan Yebda's strike cannons off Jamie Carragher for a Portsmouth corner.
28mins
Portsmouth have edged their way into this game in the last 10 minutes.
26mins
Frederic Piquionne chases a ball forward but the pass is hit too strongly.
24mins
A dangerous cross is put out for a corner by Daniel Agger.
22mins
Kevin-Prince Boateng gets past Emiliano Insua but Daniel Agger stops his progress.
20mins
Fernando Torres' dipping shot from the edge og the area is inches over the crossbar.
18mins
Hermann Hreidarsson bursts down the left flank but his pass can only find a Liverpool shirt.
16mins
Dirk Kuyt brings the ball down from Steven Gerrard's header but then misses his shot.
16mins
Steven Gerrard's drive iaccidentally blocked by Fernando Torres.
14mins
This game is struggling to get going as both sides struggle to put passes together.
12mins
Andrea Dossena's corner is cleared by Michael Brown.
10mins
Steven Gerrard looks to unleash a shot but is tacklrd by Younes Kaboul.
8mins
Kevin-Prince Boateng, in space, skies the ball high over the bar.
7mins
Frederic Piquionne chases a chipped ball forward but is put off by Jose Manuel Reina and fires wide.
6mins
Steven Gerrard plays a crossfield pass but it falls into no-mans land and Stve Finnan takes possession.
4mins
Liverpool are doing all the attacking but are not able to find a killer ball.
2mins
Glen Johnson looks to cross the ball in but is dispossessed before he can get the ball away.
0mins
Referee Lee Mason gets what will be a cracking clash underway.
0mins
Ryan Babel is on the bench for Liverpool after ecovering from an ankle injury.
0mins
Glen Johnson starts for Liverpool after being sidelined by injury, while Fernando Torres starts for the Reds.
0mins
Michael Brown returns from injury for Portsmouth while Younes Kaboul is back after suspension.
Match Preview
Premier League strugglers Portsmouth will be hoping to move off the bottom of the table when they host Rafael Benitez's Liverpool in Saturday's early kick-off.
Pompey are three points behind second-bottom side West Ham and a win for the south coast side coupled with a defeat for the Hammers could see Avram Grant's men move clear of 20th place.
Pompey failed to take any points away from Stamford Bridge during midweek despite pushing Chelsea all the way, but with two wins in their last three home games, they will be confident of upsetting the visiting Reds.
Striker Frederic Piquionne, who netted Portsmouth's goal at Stamford Bridge in a 2-1 defeat, feels that his team's impressive display against Chelsea can inspire the Hampshire side to victory against the Merseysiders.
"If we play like that we believe we can get good results. That performance has given us confidence for the weekend against Liverpool," he told the club website.
"We played well but I believe we can do better than that. We play Liverpool on Saturday and there's no reason why we can't get something against them."
Liverpool themselves have endured a difficult season so far, with their title aspirations having all but disappeared.
However, the Reds did return to winning ways on Wednesday, proving too strong for Wigan after two league games without a victory.
Fernando Torres netted the Reds' second in that 2-1 win and the Spanish superstar will no doubt be confident of finding the net again at Fratton Park, having already bagged three goals in his last two appearances against Portsmouth.
According to team-mate Javier Mascherano, Torres' return to fitness will be vital to Liverpool kick-starting their season.
The Argentinian hardman told the club website: "It is so important for us that Fernando stays fit. We know that we can win games when he is not playing but, equally, when he is on the pitch, you can see the respect that other teams give him."
Last season this fixture produced the proverbial five-goal thriller, with Liverpool going behind twice but eventually coming out on top courtesy of that man Torres with a last-gasp winner.
However, Portsmouth will take comfort in the fact that Liverpool have won only one of their last five Premier League fixtures away from home.
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Match Report
Javier Mascherano was sent off for the second time this season as Liverpool's miserable campaign suffered another setback after a wretched 2-0 defeat at bottom club Portsmouth.
Goals from Algerian defender Nadir Belhadj and French striker Frederic Piquionne condemned Rafael Benitez's flops to their seventh league defeat.
Mascherano was dismissed for a horror tackle on Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim on the stroke of half-time.
Portsmouth had taken just 11 points from their opening 17 games and remain besieged by financial problems.
The hosts had a lucky escape when Steven Gerrard's goalbound shot was inadvertently blocked by team-mate Fernando Torres before being cleared.
Torres came within inches of putting Liverpool in front on 20 minutes with a majestic 20-yard curler, which had Portsmouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic beaten before nestling on the roof of the net.
Gerrard's low left-wing cross almost led to a goal but the onrushing Torres narrowly failed to make contact six yards out.
Jamie Carragher, making his 600th appearance for Liverpool, produced a heroic block to divert Hassan Yebda's powerful volley behind for a corner from point-blank range.
Carragher was powerless to stop Belhadj giving Portsmouth the lead 12 minutes before half-time.
Kevin-Prince Boateng's driven low shot was palmed away by Pepe Reina but Liverpool failed to clear the rebound and the ball broke kindly for Belhadj, who lashed an unstoppable right-foot shot into the roof of the net from an acute angle.
Daniel Agger should have drawn Liverpool level just six minutes later when Gerrard's free-kick presented him with a free header at the back post but the centre-back nodded wide when it looked easier to score.
Liverpool were reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time when Mascherano was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Ben Haim.
Begovic, replacing the injured David James, produced a miraculous 67th-minute save to keep Portsmouth in front.
Gerrard's 15-yard piledriver struck two Portsmouth players on its way to goal but Bosnian Begovic somehow managed to readjust his dive and claw the ball behind for a corner.
Piquionne sealed the points eight minutes from time, brilliantly flicking up Boateng's cross before firing past Reina at the near post.
Portsmouth Team
Liverpool Team
Portsmouth | Liverpool |
Corners
| 8 | 10 |
Fouls
| 8 | 13 |
Goal attempts
Shots off target
| 7 | 5 |
Offsides
| 1 | 3 |
90mins
Therewill be four minutes of added time.