Portsmouth 1-2 Stoke City
Pulis was angry with the sending off
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Saturday, 20, Feb 2010 07:29
By Darren Estwick.
A late goal by Salif Diao condemned Portsmouth to a 2-1 home defeat to ten-man Stoke at Fratton Park in the Premier League to end a miserable week for the south coast side on the worst possible note.
The Stoke midfielder scored his first ever goal in England after six years of trying when he broke into the area and lashed the ball into the net after good work by Ricardo Fuller.
The goal was all the more heartbreaking as the home side had been striving for a winner themselves after playing the final 20 minutes of the match against ten men following the dismissal of Andy Wilkinson for a second bookable offence.
After a quiet beginning Portsmouth thought they had taken the lead midway through the first half.
The first sign of quality showed by the home side resulted in Frederic Piquionne being put clean through on goal and the forward finished neatly over keeper Thomas Sorensen but he was harshly ruled offside by the assistant referee.
The injustice fuelled Portsmouth however as they poured forward in search of the elusive win. Belhadj shot over when well placed after a good bit of sustained pressure before they opened the scoring after 35 minutes.
Winger Quincy Owusu-Abeyie cut inside from the left and swapped passes with Nadir Belhadj before striking a shot from outside the area which was smothered by Sorensen, the rebound however fell to the onrushing Piquionne and the striker converted to open the scoring.
Just before half time Stoke created their best chance when from a cross, Tuncay stole a yard of free space in the box but only contrived to head wide of David James' post.
However soon after the interval Stoke made one of their chances pay.
A straightforward corner delivered into the box was headed home by defender Robert Huth after he out jumped his marker to level the scores.
Stoke's next corner almost yielded the same results but after the ball was cleared from the area a Rory Delap shot was saved well by James.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis then must have felt he was living in his own special version of Groundhog Day as he witnessed the harsh dismissal of Wilkinson after a tussle with John Utaka.
The two collided and a free kick was awarded but the defender was sent off despite the 50-50 battle.
Pulis was livid but Portsmouth left gaps at the back as they tried to force a winner.
In the final minute Fuller picked up the ball in a dangerous position, ran into the area and with defender and keeper occupied, cut the ball back to the onrushing Diao who finished into the roof of the net.