Newcastle	1 - 4	Portsmouth
Scorers Campbell o.g. 16  Booked Smith 37 Butt 40	Half Time ( 1 - 3 )	Scorers Pamarot 8 Mwaruwari 9 Utaka 11 Kranjcar 71  Booked Distin 33 Davis 57

Newcastle went into the game with an unbeaten home record as Sam Allardyce hoped to consolidate his team’s performances at St James’ Park to improve their league position.

Portsmouth hadn’t won at St James’ Park since 1949 but with less than a quarter of an hour gone in this game, the result was hardly beyond doubt,

Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth have started to get a reputation for being involved in games with a lot of goals as they continue their quest to make inroads on the top four in the Premier League.

But it was Newcastle who had the first chance on goal as David James made a good one-handed save to his left after the home side had squeezed a shot through the defence as Pompey got back in numbers.

And despite the Magpies’ good record on their home ground, Portsmouth stunned them in the opening 11 minutes as they opened up a three goal lead thanks to some dreadful defending by the home side.

After a fairly even opening few minutes from both sides, Noe Pamarot gave the visitors the perfect start when a stunning strike from 20 yards. John Utaka’s ball into the box was cleared and Pamarot hit it first time, giving the keeper no chance as the ball flew into the top corner.

Just a minute later, Pompey were 2-0 up thanks to some leaky defending from Newcastle again. The high line of the home defence allowed too much room at the back and Benjani shoulder-barged his way past Claudio Cacapa before silencing the crowd to score.

And if that wasn’t enough, Utaka did the same thing a couple of minutes later before rounding the advancing keeper to score Pompey’s third.

Newcastle managed to force their way back into the game four minutes later when Michael Owen’s shot was saved by David James and the ball went in off Sol Campbell.

Allardyce then made an early substitution in an attempt to shore up his defence and prevent any more goals being conceded through their weak full-back. Rozehnal replaced Capaca and could’ve given away a penalty shortly afterwards but it was missed by the referee.

The game settled down by Newcastle hardly did enough to claw their way back into the game. They still looked vulnerable at the back but managed to go into the break without conceding again.

Another handball was missed when Abdoulaye Faye met a ball into the penalty area with his hands.

But Portsmouth put the result beyond doubt with just under 20 minutes remaining when Niko Kranjcar’s free-kick was whipped in from the left and went in via defender Steve Taylor’s knee, which flicked the ball past Steve Harper.

As the full-time whistle blew, boos rang out around St James’ Park to echo the boos from the home fans after their team went 3-0 down so early on. It was a brilliant day for Portsmouth and an impressive display which made the most of Newcastle’s shambles of a defence.

The victory moved Pompey up to fourth, ahead of Blackburn and Liverpool but before the two met at Ewood Park in the day’s late kick-off. It was another impressive performance by the south-coast side to shatter Newcastle’s unbeaten home record.

Sam Allardyce will be made at the way his side threw the game away in the first 11 minutes. It was a shock to find themselves so comprehensively behind so quickly, but it was also something Big Sam will have to address. He knew that Pompey were big and strong and his defence just failed to cope with the early pressure as the problem of finding a good centre-back in the north-east continues.


Newcastle: Harper, Taylor, Faye, Cacapa (Rozehnal 18), Jose Enrique (Martins 57), N'Zogbia, Butt, Barton, Milner (Emre 69), Smith, Owen.

Subs Not Used: Forster, Geremi.

Portsmouth: James, Pamarot, Distin, Campbell, Johnson, Davis, Muntari (Pedro Mendes 87), Diop, Utaka, Kranjcar, Mwaruwari (Kanu 76).

Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Lauren, Taylor.

Att: 51,490

Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).

By Ben Hughes