FOOTBALL Live

Sunday April 27, 2008 Finished Fratton Park

Logo 0 - Blackburn Rovers 1

Portsmouth

Blackburn Rovers

  • Santa Cruz 74’
  1. Santa Cruz punishes Portsmouth

    Santa Cruz punishes Portsmouth

    Roque Santa Cruz's second-half strike gave Blackburn a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth after a rather subdued 90 minutes at Fratton Park. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Portsmouth
    • Blackburn Rovers
    • 90+5' And the full-time whistle goes! 1-0 to Blackburn the final score, and it's probably a fair result. Stay tuned for live coverage of Everton v Aston Villa from 16:00 BST.
    • 90+4' Great save Friedel! He gets his hand to a powerful header from Diarra that looks destined for the top-right corner!
    • 90+3' Warnock is booked for a trip on Kranjcar. Blackburn try to eat up some time by sending David Dunn on for Jason Roberts.
    • 90+1' The ball falls for Johnson on the edge of the Blackburn box and he puts a left-footed half-volley wide.
    • 90' There will be four minutes of added time.
    • 89' Calamity from Friedel! The Blackburn keeper controls a backpass but allows Baros to get far too close to him, and only just manages to hack the ball away! Campbell is booked for a tug on Roberts.
    • 87' Samba will not be able to continue, and he's replaced by Andre Ooijer.
    • 84' Samba goes down clutching his leg after colliding with Kranjcar as they slide in to contest a 50-50.
    • 83' Chance for Portsmouth! Johnson plays in a low cross from the right and Defoe lashes a shot over the bar at the near post!
    • 81' Bentley whips in a dangerous cross from the left that Johnson puts behind at the near post.
    • 80' Defoe goes down in the Blackburn box under a challenge by Nelsen, but the referee's not interested.
    • 79' Good save Ashdown! Roberts sends in a shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area that draws a sharp save from the Pompey keeper!
    • 77' Harry Redknapp responds with a substitution. Milan Baros comes on for Muntari, as Pompey shift to 4-3-3.
    • 74' GOAL! 1-0 Blackburn! Roberts slips a through-ball into the path of the advancing Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan drills a left-footed shot underneath Ashdown and into the net!
    • 73' More good football from Portsmouth culminates in Kranjcar firing in a long-range effort that is well held by Friedel.
    • 72' Great chance for Pompey! Kanu releases Kranjcar on the left and his low first-time cross is attacked by Muntari at the back post, but he goes for it with his left foot rather than his right and the ball trickles across goal and wide!
    • 71' Defoe angrily kicks the ball away after being given offside yet again, earning him a caution.
    • 69' Bentley whips in a cross from the right that Johnson heads away on the edge of the area. Pedersen takes aim with a long-range free-kick from the inside-right channel that's straight at Friedel.
    • 67' Bentley swings his corner into the box, it drops for Samba but Diop does well to get in the way.
    • 66' Campbell does well to head Bentley's cross from the right behind for a corner at the back post.
    • 65' Diop sets up Diarra in a central position but he slashes a first-time effort well over the bar from about 25 yards out.
    • 64' Defoe releases Lauren on the left and he cuts inside onto his right foot before sending in a cross that is headed out by Vogel.
    • 62' Half-chance Pompey! Defoe swings in a cross from the left but Kanu doesn't really get anything on his header and the ball skims off his forehead and wide.
    • 61' Kranjcar looks for Muntari over the top but the Ghanaian is caught offside.
    • 60' Roberts does well to get away from Distin but puts a fairly tame shot straight at Ashdown.
    • 58' Penalty shout for Blackburn! Roberts drives into the Pompey box and goes to ground after being nudged from behind by Campbell, but the push occurred outside the box and the referee decides to let play continue anyway.
    • 57' Good save Ashdown! Bentley dinks a cross into the Portsmouth box from right on the byline on the left, and Nelsen's header towards the bottom-left corner is finger-tipped round the post!
    • 56' Muntari deftly steps inside Samba on the left-hand corner of the area before crashing a right-footed effort high and wide of Friedel's goal.
    • 55' Kanu tees up Kranjcar just inside the Blackburn box on the left, but the Croatian snatches at his shot and scuffs it across goal, allowing Rovers to clear.
    • 54' Bentley winds up to shoot from the edge of the Pompey box but Muntari manages to nick the ball away from him just in time.
    • 53' Diop catches Samba with a flailing arm. Free-kick to Blackburn deep inside their own half.
    • 52' Defoe is penalised for a foul on Samba, which is no mean feat when you consider the fact Samba is about three feet taller than him. Campbell produces a superb tackle to deny Warnock inside the Portsmouth area.
    • 51' Muntari plays in a low cross from the Portsmouth left but there's no-one at the near post and Nelsen has time to clear.
    • 50' Sight of goal for Blackburn! Bentley clips in a cross from the right and centre-half Ryan Nelsen appears from nowhere to send a header over the bar!
    • 47' Santa Cruz gets his head to Bentley's delivery but can only send the ball towards the edge of the penalty area, where Portsmouth are able to clear.
    • 48' Pedersen wins a free-kick on the left for a foul by Johnson.
    • 47' Bentley tries to get on the end of a pass down the Blackburn left but can't get to the ball before it crosses the byline.
    • 46' The second half begins. Portsmouth have made a change during the break, with Niko Kranjcar coming on for John Utaka, who has apparently picked up a minor ankle injury. Pedersen comes off worse after a clash of heads with Johnson, but he's able to play on.
    • 45+1' The half-time whistle goes. Nil-nil at the break, but there are signs that this game is just flickering into life.
    • 45' Roberts is penalised for a push on Sol Campbell. Diop flicks on Ashdown's free-kick but Reid heads it back to Friedel. There will be one minute of stoppage time.
    • 44' Muntari has space on the Portsmouth left but his poor square pass is easily cut out by Vogel. This game has just started to warm up in the last five minutes or so.
    • 42' Reid goes into the book for a slightly mistimed challenge on Muntari wide on the Portsmouth left.
    • 41' Inches wide from Defoe! Muntari's cross from the left is chested on by Kanu, touched to the right by Utaka and Defoe drives in a low right-footed effort that goes narrowly wide of the far post! Ashdown does well to repel a well-struck effort from Roberts at the other end!
    • 40' Utaka attacks Muntari's cross from the left at the back post but puts his header wide.
    • 39' Brilliant play from Defoe! He drifts infield from the right and shifts the ball onto his left foot before fizzing a low shot inches wide of the near post!
    • 37' Bentley goes down clutching the back of his head after being caught by a stray elbow from Diarra. Mike Riley stops play, but no free-kick is awarded.
    • 35' Johnson finds Defoe in the Blackburn area with a curling pass but he's offside. Doesn't stop him slamming the ball past Friedel and then snarling at the linesman though.
    • 34' Kanu slips the ball through to Defoe but he's quickly dispossessed by Samba.
    • 33' Bentley skips past his man down the Blackburn left and stabs in a cross with the outside of his right foot that Ashdown claims at his near post.
    • 31' Johnson spots Friedel straying from his line and attempts a lob from inside his own half that floats over the bar. Commendable ambition for a full-back. The watching Fabio Capello will be impressed.
    • 30' Blackburn win a free-kick on the right, Pedersen whips it in left-footed and Distin heads it away at the near post.
    • 29' Utaka gets free down the Pompey right but Warnock recovers to put in a well-timed saving tackle.
    • 27' Samba is given time to shoot on the edge of the box but his left-footed effort is blocked at close range by Diop.
    • 26' Johann Vogel and Defoe square up after Defoe catches the Swiss with a late challenge. Referee Mike Riley has a stern word with both.
    • 25' Reid bends in a cross from the Blackburn right and Pedersen produces a tremendous leap to get above Johnson at the back post but puts his header wide.
    • 24' Pedersen catches Kanu inside the centre circle but the home side retain possession so play continues.
    • 23' Bentley is penalised for a late challenge on Muntari on the Blackburn right.
    • 21' Defoe tries to get onto a long ball into space on the Portsmouth left but Reid gets there ahead of him.
    • 19' Defoe flicks the ball through to Kanu inside the Blackburn box and Steven Reid just gets back in time to nick it away.
    • 17' Lassana Diarra's corner from the right is headed clear to the edge of the box, Muntari takes the ball on his chest and fires in a right-footed volley that Kanu flicks over the bar with his head, but the flag goes up because the Nigerian was in an offside position when the ball left Muntari's foot.
    • 16' Utaka whips in a cross from the Portsmouth right and Christopher Samba just manages to get ahead of Defoe at the near post to concede a corner.
    • 15' Warnock drives a pass towards Santa Cruz from deep on the left but the ball skids off the surface and goes behind for a goal kick. Defoe is caught offside at the other end, despite appearing to time his run well.
    • 13' Pedersen aims a header towards Santa Cruz on the edge of the Portsmouth box but Diop intervenes to volley clear.
    • 12' Pedersen fizzes a pass into David Bentley from the left but Bentley's attempted return pass is intercepted. Santa Cruz concedes a free-kick on the right for a push on Papa Bouba Diop.
    • 11' Chance for Blackburn! Santa Cruz's cross from the right is deflected into the air, Pedersen gets there ahead of Ashdown but puts his header just wide of the far post! A nervous moment for the Pompey stand-in keeper.
    • 10' Sulley Muntari comes infield from the left onto his right foot and flashes a shot across goal and wide from about 25 yards.
    • 8' Kanu just can't get onto a volleyed pass down the left from Jermain Defoe and the ball trickles out for a Rovers throw-in.
    • 6' Lauren tries to shape a cross towards Kanu from the Portsmouth left but it's too close to Friedel. Roque Santa Cruz attempts to pick out Morten Gamst Pedersen at the back post with a clipped pass from the Blackburn right but Glen Johnson manages to head it away.
    • 4' Kanu looks to slide a pass to John Utaka down the inside-right channel but Stephen Warnock makes a crucial interception.
    • 3' Kanu receives a pass with his back to goal on the Pompey left but is crowded out by a posse of visiting defenders. Jason Roberts is caught offside on the Blackburn left.
    • 2' Sylvain Distin gets on the end of a corner from the Portsmouth right but puts his header over the bar.
    • 1' We're underway! The news on David James's non-participation is that he has a calf tear and is a doubt for the cup final. Rovers keeper Brad Friedel, meanwhile, makes his 150th consecutive appearance for Mark Hughes's side.
    • 13:25 The teams take to the field, Portsmouth in their home strip of blue shirts, white shorts and red socks, Blackburn in a change kit of red and black halved shirts, black shorts and black socks.
    • 13:15 Good afternoon and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage of Portsmouth v Blackburn from Fratton Park. Victory for the home side will take them to within a point of fifth-placed Everton ahead of their game against Aston Villa later today, while Blackburn simply have to win if they are to stand any hope of securing the Intertoto Cup qualifying place. Kick-off is at 13:30 BST.

  • Team Stats

    Portsmouth Stats Blackburn Rovers
    46% Possession 53%
    17 Shots 14
    2 Shots on target 6
    3 Saves 1
    8 Corners 7
    14 Fouls 20
    6 Offsides 5
    2 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    32 Tackles 32
    247 Accurate passes 301
    64 Bad passes 61

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 12 0 2
      4 Bisan Lauren 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 26 14 2
      5 Glen Johnson 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 17 0 6
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 20 4 5
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 34 8 2
      6 Lassana Diarra 0 2 1 2 2 0 0 43 15 5
      17 John Utaka 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 8 0 0
      11 Sulley Ali Muntari 0 3 0 1 2 2 0 18 2 6
      14 Jermain Defoe 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 11 5 1
      27 Nwankwo Kanu 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 29 6 0
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 2 1 3 1 0 0 21 5 2
      9 Milan Baros 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 1
      3 Lucien Aubey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Asmir Begovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Sean Davis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Blackburn Rovers
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Brad Friedel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0 0
      4 Christopher Samba 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 28 1 5
      3 Stephen Warnock 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 32 11 6
      6 Ryan Nelsen 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 42 7 3
      14 Steven Reid 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 31 2 2
      8 Johann Vogel 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 42 6 3
      11 David Bentley 0 0 0 2 6 1 0 21 9 0
      7 Brett Emerton 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 33 10 4
      12 Morten Gamst Pedersen 0 4 1 1 2 0 0 24 12 5
      30 Jason Roberts 0 3 3 3 2 4 1 7 0 0
      9 Roque Santa Cruz 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 29 3 4
      19 David Dunn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      5 Kerimoglou Tugay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      2 Andre Ooijer 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Jason Brown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Matt Derbyshire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+4' Great save Friedel! He gets his hand to a powerful header from Diarra that looks destined for the top-right corner!
    • 83' Chance for Portsmouth! Johnson plays in a low cross from the right and Defoe lashes a shot over the bar at the near post!
    • 79' Good save Ashdown! Roberts sends in a shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area that draws a sharp save from the Pompey keeper!
    • 74' GOAL! 1-0 Blackburn! Roberts slips a through-ball into the path of the advancing Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan drills a left-footed shot underneath Ashdown and into the net!
    • 73' More good football from Portsmouth culminates in Kranjcar firing in a long-range effort that is well held by Friedel.
    • 72' Great chance for Pompey! Kanu releases Kranjcar on the left and his low first-time cross is attacked by Muntari at the back post, but he goes for it with his left foot rather than his right and the ball trickles across goal and wide!
    • 62' Half-chance Pompey! Defoe swings in a cross from the left but Kanu doesn't really get anything on his header and the ball skims off his forehead and wide.
    • 58' Penalty shout for Blackburn! Roberts drives into the Pompey box and goes to ground after being nudged from behind by Campbell, but the push occurred outside the box and the referee decides to let play continue anyway.
    • 57' Good save Ashdown! Bentley dinks a cross into the Portsmouth box from right on the byline on the left, and Nelsen's header towards the bottom-left corner is finger-tipped round the post!
    • 50' Sight of goal for Blackburn! Bentley clips in a cross from the right and centre-half Ryan Nelsen appears from nowhere to send a header over the bar!
    • 41' Inches wide from Defoe! Muntari's cross from the left is chested on by Kanu, touched to the right by Utaka and Defoe drives in a low right-footed effort that goes narrowly wide of the far post! Ashdown does well to repel a well-struck effort from Roberts at the other end!
    • 39' Brilliant play from Defoe! He drifts infield from the right and shifts the ball onto his left foot before fizzing a low shot inches wide of the near post!
    • 31' Johnson spots Friedel straying from his line and attempts a lob from inside his own half that floats over the bar. Commendable ambition for a full-back. The watching Fabio Capello will be impressed.
    • 11' Chance for Blackburn! Santa Cruz's cross from the right is deflected into the air, Pedersen gets there ahead of Ashdown but puts his header just wide of the far post! A nervous moment for the Pompey stand-in keeper.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Riley

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    On the Field

    • Ashdown
    • Johnson
    • Campbell Yellow Card
    • Distin
    • Lauren
    • Utaka Substitution Out (45′)
    • Bouba Diop
    • Diarra
    • Muntari Substitution Out (77′)
    • Kanu
    • Defoe Yellow Card

    Subs

    • Davis
    • Baros Substitution In77′
    • Kranjcar Substitution In45′
    • Aubey
    • Begovic

    Injured

    • Primus

    Suspended

    None

  • Blackburn Rovers

    Manager: Mark Hughes

    Captain: Ryan Nelsen

    On the Field

    • Friedel
    • Emerton
    • Samba Substitution Out (87′)
    • Nelsen
    • Warnock Yellow Card
    • Bentley
    • Vogel
    • Reid Yellow Card
    • Pedersen
    • Santa Cruz Goal
    • Roberts Substitution Out (90′)

    Subs

    • Tugay
    • Dunn Substitution In90′
    • Ooijer Substitution In87′
    • Derbyshire
    • Brown

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None