UEFA Cup - Pompey through in extra-time

Eurosport - Fri, 03 Oct 10:36:00 2008

Portsmouth travel to Portugal to take on Guimaraes in the UEFA Cup first round with a 2-0 first leg lead.

Peter Crouch, Portsmouth, 2008 - 0

Ragged Pompey surrendered a two-goal first-leg advantage inside 32 minutes as Guimaraes took advantage of sloppy defending to force extra time.

Brazilian striker Douglas shot home in the 19th minute after a corner skimmed off Sol Campbell's head - and England goalkeeper David James was beaten again by a 35-yard shot from midfielder Joao Alves.

But Crouch made no mistake for his 100th goal in club football when nodding in at the far post from Glen Johnson's delivery in the 104th minute - and he then added a second from substitute Nadir Belhadj's pass.

The visitors paid the price for a sluggish start when Douglas drilled a shot into the net beyond James in the 19th minute, with Portsmouth having made a mess of clearing a corner after Danilo's header was deflected behind.

Sylvain Distin and captain Sol Campbell both failed to cut out the ball to the Brazilian who found ample space in the area to fire it home.

Flavio gave Pompey another scare with a long-range strike and there was a sense of the inevitable when they wiped out the visitors' advantage after 32 minutes when Joao Alves' 35-yard shot from a short free-kick fizzed past the unsighted James.

Crouch lofted a header over the crossbar when he should have done better from Armand Traore's cross in the 81st minute and Glenn Johnson also went close with a shot as Pompey dictated the closing stages.

But the vital away goal would not come and they were made to pay for their first half sloppiness by having to go into extra time before finally finishing off their opponents.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

Comment 2 - 21 of 21

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  1. laughable match

    From zenithbankniginc, on Fri 3 Oct 11:58AM

  2. Does the circus know hes here?

    From goodfellowcraig, on Fri 3 Oct 9:55AM

  3. hes too skiny, he looks like a skeleton id make him­ play non league, nearly as ugly as his manager

    From Christopher F, on Fri 3 Oct 9:46AM

  4. i'm a mancity fan you moorons city 6 pompey 0

    From RAYMOND P, on Fri 3 Oct 9:44AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i'm a mancity fan you moorons city 6 pompey 0

    From RAYMOND P, on Fri 3 Oct 9:43AM

  6. Crouch is good but he is not Fernando Torres. Right­ decision to sell. For Pompey right decision to buy.

    From whippet, on Fri 3 Oct 9:27AM

  7. IM A GOONER, I LOVE POMPEY!!!!!!!! WHO"S­ BRAVEHEART???????? LOLOLOLOL
    REDNAPP A GOOD MANAGER,­ HAD TO LEAVE NON LEAGUE SOTON SO HE COULD MAKE AN­ HONEST WAGE

    From wilfyboy, on Fri 3 Oct 9:26AM

  8. Up Pompey! Up Pompey! Up Pompey!

    From Kendry, on Fri 3 Oct 9:25AM

  9. How can you dislike any of the teams outside of the­ "big four"? Good on them all. Hope Spurs,­ Villa, AND Portsmouth do brilliantly! Let's get­ behind our British teams instead of being bitter little­ chav's.

    From crispyduck, on Fri 3 Oct 9:20AM

  10. Got to say that, as far as first european match goes,­ it had all the right ingredients... Well done lads, you­ made us proud!

    From Fergus, on Fri 3 Oct 8:56AM

  11. what a @#$%, anyone known as braveheart could only make­ a stupid comment like that probably a scummer,.
    blue­ army showed great support again.
    play up pompey.

    From Mart, on Fri 3 Oct 8:44AM

  12. You a Saint's fan then Braveheart?

    From Reefgirl, on Fri 3 Oct 8:40AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Any pompey win is a travesty against all mankind. They­ are still a bag of @#$% with an inept manager and­ goalie

    From Braveheart, on Fri 3 Oct 8:30AM

  14. TOOK A LONG TIME COMING,BUT IT GOES TO SHOW THE QUALITY­ OF THE FOOTBALL BEING PLAYED BY BOTH TEAMS. GREAT­ FOOTBALL '' 'PLAY UP POMPEY !! ''­ WHO IS THIS 'SAINTS'?

    From Jimmy the Mook, on Fri 3 Oct 8:29AM

  15. raymond p u an't no pompey fan you must be a saints­ fan but were are your team d head
    so you in the­ compution

    From notar, on Fri 3 Oct 7:37AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    pompey are @#$%

    From RAYMOND P, on Fri 3 Oct 7:30AM

  17. pompey gettin betta

    From ben.woolnough, on Fri 3 Oct 7:17AM

  18. Bad start, great finish. Well done Crouchy.....PLAY UP­ POMPEY, POMPEY PLAY UP......

    From MARK, on Fri 3 Oct 7:07AM

  19. crouchy proved his worth today play up pompey

    From Darren, on Fri 3 Oct 3:54AM

  20. Nice to see Crouchy in the goals - I said we­ shouldn't have sold him at the end of last season.­ Well done Pompey, hope you get a decent draw for the­ group stage and have a good run!

    From vllles, on Fri 3 Oct 2:47AM
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