James rescues point for Portsmouth against Newcastle
Saturday, 12 Apr 2008 19:52
David James made a number of great saves
Portsmouth's slim hopes of claiming a Champions League qualification place were dented today after they were held at home by Newcastle.
A win for Portsmouth would have seen the south-coast side close the gap on fourth-placed
Liverpool to just four points, with the Mersysiders facing a tough game at home to
Blackburn Rovers tomorrow.
But the home side would have been grateful with a point in the end after David James denied his England team-mate Michael Owen a superb goal-scoring chance which would have given Newcastle all three points.
Newcastle started the game well and James was forced into making two decent early saves from Obafemi Martins and Geremi.
But it was Portsmouth who had the first real chance of the game when the in-form Jermain Defoe found himself one-on-one with Steve Harper. The Newcastle goalkeeper did well to rush out and scupper the chance.
The only other notable chance of the first half fell the Newcastle striker Mark Viduka who made James make another superb save from a volley from ten yards out.
Both teams played open-attacking football in the second-half, and Defoe had another good chance to open the scoring, but he steered his shot on goal just wide from inside the penalty area.
With only 15 minutes of the game left Owen had a marvellous chance to grab the points for Newcastle. Portsmouth failed clear a corner and the ball fell to Owen who was only five yards from goal, but his shot somehow hit James in the face and went over the bar.
The draw leaves Portsmouth in sixth place, while Newcastle are now in 12th place, ten points off the relegation zone.