Portsmouth	0 - 0	Everton
Booked Muntari 45	Half Time ( 0 - 0 )	Booked Pienaar 25 Cahill 34

Portsmouth had the better of the game but couldn’t overcome a strong Everton side at Fratton Park. It wasn’t a pretty game to watch on the rain-soaked south coast as the two in-form sides cancelled each other out in a fairly dull goalless draw.

Pompey went into the game unbeaten in their last nine league fixtures as Harry Redknapp tried to put the week’s trials behind him.

Yakubu started the game for Everton as the Premiership’s highest and most consistent goal scorer over the last four seasons and faced one of his old clubs as he looked to maintain his record.

But neither team really managed to test the opposition’s goalkeeper during the course of the game, although it was Pompey who were frustrated more by the visitors.

The hosts started the game the stronger side and John Utaka and Benjani combined well on the inside right. But the Zimbabwean couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet to get a shot in.

Sulley Muntari’s free-kick went right through the box and narrowly wide of the post and then he saw a second dip over Tim Howard’s finger tips only to bounce off the top of the bar.

Benjani was also posing a constant threat going forward, showing strength and vision as he linked up well with his team mates.

In contrast, Everton struggled to make an impact up front and hardly had a decent shot on target all day. David Moyes set out his stall early on and his side was happy to soak up the pressure with a solid defence. But it also meant they didn’t have the impetus going forward.

The second-half mirrored the first as Pedro Mendes and Niko Kranjcar both went close but they just couldn’t find a breakthrough. Mendes drove his shot over and the impressive Kranjcar saw hit sneaky toe-poke go agonisingly wide of the post after re-directing a low cross from the right.

Leon Osman had the best chance for Everton but he couldn’t control the ball with only David James to beat. If his first touch had been better, he’d have been left with a one-on-one with the keeper as he ran in from the edge of the box.

Everton still failed to make much up front and David James wasn’t made to work hard enough. A fairly comfortable save from a free-kick was the only real exertion he had in the second 45 minutes as much of the game was played at the other end of the pitch.

Portsmouth had more of the ball and used it far more effectively but eventually both sides cancelled each other out, partly because of the weather conditions and partly because of Everton’s solid defence.

The draw maintains the good run both sides are currently enjoying but will have frustrated Harry Redknapp who knows his team could’ve won the game. It was Portsmouth’s fourth 0-0 home draw in a row but is just enough to keep them in sixth place.

Another defiant game from Everton was enough for a point but with both Aston Villa and Blackburn winning their games it means they slip down to ninth. It was a fairly uninspiring performance from the Toffees who seem to struggle despite being so well organised.


Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Pamarot, Utaka (Kanu 57), Diop, Pedro Mendes, Muntari, Kranjcar, Mwaruwari.

Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Hreidarsson, Nugent, Taylor.

Everton: Howard, Neville, Yobo, Lescott, Nuno Valente, Arteta, Osman, Carsley, Cahill, Pienaar (Johnson 53), Yakubu (Anichebe 67).

Subs Not Used: Wessels, Hibbert, Jagielka.

Att: 20,102

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).

By Ben Hughes