Nine-man Portsmouth fall to Rovers

Portsmouth 0 Blackburn 1

Morten Gamst Pedersen eased Blackburn’s relegation worries with a second-half winner in a stormy Barclays Premiership clash at Fratton Park.

The Norwegian executed a clever finish to David Thompson’s through-ball in the 55th minute to provide Rovers with a well-earned success and extend their recent good run to two defeats in 13 games.

But the game was marred by the double dismissal of Portsmouth striker Lomana LuaLua in the 50th minute and Amdy Faye in the dying seconds.

LuaLua was dismissed by referee Andy D’Urso for appearing to headbutt Rovers’ skipper Andy Todd while Faye was sent off for a second bookable offence.

In a lacklustre encounter, D’Urso was the busiest man on the pitch – booking six Rovers players and two from Pompey as well as sending LuaLua and Faye for their early baths.

There was no hint of the niggling battle to come when Paul Dickov’s effort from 18 yards was deflected into the arms of Shaka Hislop in the Pompey goal inside two minutes.

Two minutes later LuaLua was wide of the target with a right-foot volley from the angle of the six-yard box.

In the 13th minute Yakubu, a transfer target for Birmingham and Newcastle, was too powerful for Rovers full-back Ryan Nelson – who paid the penalty for holding him back with the first booking of the afternoon.

The visitors were far from considered in their early attacks while Pompey relied far too heavily on the combined talents of LuaLua and Yakubu when going forward.

They were often forced to forage without the required midfield support and consequently their endeavours in the final third of the field were repelled with ease by the Blackburn defence.

In the 34th minute, Thompson sent a 20-yard effort over the Portsmouth crossbar as the visitors looked to engineer an opening.

The game was now bogged down in a midfield contest that cried out for a player with the ability to provide a telling pass in the danger area.

Rovers, languishing some five points adrift of Pompey, were guilty of failing to capitalise on their possession.

But they almost paid the price for making a hash of a free-kick on the edge of the Portsmouth area as the home side intercepted the crossfield pass – Diomansy Kamara surged forward into the Rovers half only to be blatantly tripped by Aaron Mokoena.

The Portsmouth fans called for D’Urso to show the Rovers player a red card but the official deemed that, as he was not the last defender, a yellow card would suffice as punishment.

The home side then went on to waste their subsequent free-kick and the game reverted to its pedestrian pace.

In the 43rd minute, Brett Emerton became the latest name to enter D’Urso’s book when he held back Faye to the fury of the home support.

Four minutes into the second half, Faye was booked for a foul on Thompson and seconds later LuaLua was shown the red card for apparently headbutting Todd in an off-the-ball incident.

Todd had originally feigned to butt the Pompey striker but LuaLua appeared to make contact with his retaliatory strike and D’Urso sent him off after consulting his assistant.

In the 55th minute, 10-man Portsmouth’s afternoon took another turn for the worst when Pedersen slotted home the first goal of the game with a well executed finish from Thompson’s sublime through-ball.

Portsmouth fans greeted the goal by throwing objects at Pedersen as he celebrated his strike, and the club could face action from the Football Association over the incident.

The game was becoming increasingly bad-tempered as the secod half wore on and Tugay received a yellow card for a foul on Faye – taking D’Urso’s tally to seven for the afternoon – plus LuaLua’s straight red for violent conduct.

The striker will now face a three-match ban for his dismissal but, more importantly, his absence ruined any hopes of a Pompey fightback.

In the 71st minute, Kamara forced Friedel into a fine save when he unleashed a powerful rising drive from a range of 20 yards.

And Pompey’s misery was complete in the dying seconds of six minutes added time Faye was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Thompson.