Tweet
Portsmouth 2-1 Stoke
By David McIntyre
Crouch and Defoe both scored fine goals for Portsmouth
Jermain Defoe netted the winner and Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch scored with a spectacular overhead kick as Stoke were beaten at Fratton Park.
Crouch acrobatically fired Defoe's cross into the bottom corner.
Stoke equalised when Rory Delap's long throw was flicked on by Dave Kitson and Ricardo Fuller headed home.
Defoe rattled the post with a 30-yard drive but then found the net after Stoke's Seyi Olofinjana allowed him to cut in from the left and shoot.
Stoke's defeat leaves them in the bottom three with just one win from their opening seven Premier League matches.
This game could have panned out very differently had Kitson not failed to take an early chance to open the scoring.
606: DEBATE
I can't see why Pulis starts with Kitson
SP
Keeper David James' poor clearance went straight to Delap, whose first-time ball put Kitson through on goal, but the striker shot wide.
It was a rare chance for Stoke during a first-half in which right-back Andy Griffin was given a torrid time by Pompey's left-sided combination of Nadir Belhadj and Armand Traore.
On-loan Arsenal winger Traore sent a 20-yard shot just wide and Fuller had a header saved by James, before Crouch put Harry Redknapp's side ahead.
The goal was Crouch's fifth of the season and his third in two matches.
Stoke hit back three minutes into the second half, when Delap's trademark throw-in caused havoc and former Pompey forward Fuller bundled the ball in from close range.
Defoe almost restored the lead with a cracking effort that beat stand-in keeper Steve Simonsen and smashed against the woodwork.
But there was no reprieve for Stoke when Olofinjana invited Defoe to try his luck again.
This time the England striker let fly from just outside the penalty area and his effort beat Simonsen at the near post. Simonsen, playing because first-choice stopper Thomas Sorensen has flu, produced good saves to keep out shots from Crouch and Traore before Crouch headed Glen Johnson's free-kick wide. Stoke boss Tony Pulis sent on striker Mamady Sidibe and then recent signing Tom Soares for his Potters debut, but his team never looked like finding another equaliser.
By David McIntyre
Crouch and Defoe both scored fine goals for Portsmouth Jermain Defoe netted the winner and Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch scored with a spectacular overhead kick as Stoke were beaten at Fratton Park.
Crouch acrobatically fired Defoe's cross into the bottom corner.
Stoke equalised when Rory Delap's long throw was flicked on by Dave Kitson and Ricardo Fuller headed home.
Defoe rattled the post with a 30-yard drive but then found the net after Stoke's Seyi Olofinjana allowed him to cut in from the left and shoot.
Stoke's defeat leaves them in the bottom three with just one win from their opening seven Premier League matches.
This game could have panned out very differently had Kitson not failed to take an early chance to open the scoring.
606: DEBATE I can't see why Pulis starts with Kitson
SP
Keeper David James' poor clearance went straight to Delap, whose first-time ball put Kitson through on goal, but the striker shot wide.
It was a rare chance for Stoke during a first-half in which right-back Andy Griffin was given a torrid time by Pompey's left-sided combination of Nadir Belhadj and Armand Traore.
On-loan Arsenal winger Traore sent a 20-yard shot just wide and Fuller had a header saved by James, before Crouch put Harry Redknapp's side ahead.
The goal was Crouch's fifth of the season and his third in two matches.
Stoke hit back three minutes into the second half, when Delap's trademark throw-in caused havoc and former Pompey forward Fuller bundled the ball in from close range.
Defoe almost restored the lead with a cracking effort that beat stand-in keeper Steve Simonsen and smashed against the woodwork.
But there was no reprieve for Stoke when Olofinjana invited Defoe to try his luck again.
This time the England striker let fly from just outside the penalty area and his effort beat Simonsen at the near post. Simonsen, playing because first-choice stopper Thomas Sorensen has flu, produced good saves to keep out shots from Crouch and Traore before Crouch headed Glen Johnson's free-kick wide. Stoke boss Tony Pulis sent on striker Mamady Sidibe and then recent signing Tom Soares for his Potters debut, but his team never looked like finding another equaliser.
Comment