Pompey vs. Boro

I love the matches that occur during the weekdays, I don't know what is so interesting to me about them, but they are intoxicating to say the least. On to the game itself. Just watched the game between Middlesboro and Portsmouth at the Riverside. Middlesboro were riding a high when the beat Chelsea last week. Middlesboro have almost always been on the brink of breaking out evrey season for the last 2 - 3 seasons and everytime their attempt at joining the top of the table is muddled by some screwup (intentionally or un intentionally). Their performance during their match play against Chelsea was great. Falling behind the champions 1-0 early and then in the last 10 minutes regaining the lead through 2 goals was something that no team has done to Chelsea for almost 2 years. Going into the game at home the expectation was that they would not only be able to thwart any attacks that Portsmouth put, but would be able to produce a great midfield play that would support their forwards. For portsmouth, their acquisition of players has led them thus far to be able to keep up with all the to teams in the league.

The match was a great thrill to wathc through and through. The game was really high paced and was led throughout by the play of the forwards and the defence rather than a robust midfield for both the teams. Middlesboro's performance from the beginning was really shaky and Portsmouth wasted no time to capture on the egregious play of the Boro defence with Kanu opportunistically capitalizing on a stray ball in the 6 yard box. Portsmouth kept attacking the Boro defence but during the middle the team picked itself and there were certain chances created by Viduka and Mandieta but to no avail. On the other hand, Pompey's defence was fierce with their acquisition of Sol Campbell during the offseason and a great performance by Linvoy Primus kept the Boro players at bay.

Things looked bad from the start for Boro during the second half as the last season's acquisition benjani proved his high price for portsmouth by scoring a goal during the early minutes of the half. As Middlesboro under the new management of Garret Southgate looked to stop leaks in their defences Kanu's icing on the cake 3rd goal sealed the deal for Portsmouth. The las goal especially left a lot to be desired by the Boro defence, as Kanu broke free from the half with 4 defenders in pursuit. As Boateng slipped to get the ball away from Kanu and knocking him down in the process, kanu cooly chipped the ball over the halpless Australian keeper Schwartzer. In the dying minutes of the game Svetoslav Fodorov scored the final goal of the match to complete the humiliation that Middlesborough faced at the hands of Portsmouth.

Performace by the Boro team was something that the manager would like to forget in a hurry while Portsmouth reach at the top of the table right beside Everton and Aston Villa. The match was briefly interrupted by two people that ran on to the pitch but that was the only bright event in the dismal loss at Riverside.