Pompey lead ten-man Liverpool at the break

Portsmouth 1 Liverpool 0

Nadir Belhadj scored the opener on his return to the Portsmouth team to earn his side a half-time lead in their Barclays Premier League clash against Liverpool.

Belhadj, who has been out of favour under boss Avram Grant, struck in the 33rd minute at Fratton Park to edge the league’s bottom club ahead.

Liverpool had Fernando Torres back in their team but struggled to make clear-cut opportunities, then they had Javier Mascherano sent off just before the break to make matters worse.

The match was able to go ahead due to the pitch being covered during the week, although there were traces of snow on the shaded areas of the turf meaning passing was sometimes hindered.

Pompey, in any case, went aerial to create their first chance. When a free-kick was cleared, Brown lobbed the ball back into the danger area for Frederic Piquionne, who got to the ball before Pepe Reina but was blocked by the goalkeeper, legally according to referee Lee Mason.

Torres was easing his way into the game. The Spaniard had sight of goal early on but Hermann Hreidarsson was back in time – his sliced clearance could have gone anywhere but ended up in Begovic’s hands.

Torres got closer midway through the half after collecting a pass from Dossena and curling just over the bar, then he was inches from Steven Gerrard’s cross.

Despite Torres’ threat, it was Pompey who took the lead through Belhadj. The Algerian winger started the move by nutmegging Emiliano Insua to set up an attack.

When the ball was cleared, Kevin-Prince Boateng forced Reina into a save with a powerful volley, former Pompey full-back Glen Johnson failed to clear the ball and Belhadj lashed in at the near post.

Daniel Agger should have levelled before the break. Gerrard’s free-kick found him unmarked but the centre-back headed over from close range.

Javier Mascherano was given a straight red card just before the break for a tackle on Tal Ben Haim that saw the Argentina midfielder lunge into his opponent.