The Hindu : Sport / Football : Portsmouth stuns 10-man Liverpool

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Portsmouth stuns 10-man Liverpool

LONDON: Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne fired home angled shots as last place Portsmouth stunned 10-man Liverpool 2-0 on Saturday to put more pressure on manager Rafa Benitez.

Making his first league start for three months, Algerian international Belhadj struck the first in the 33rd minute before Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano was sent off for an ugly foul on Tal Ben Haim.

Piquionne added the second in the 82nd to improve Portsmouth’s chances of avoiding relegation. It was Liverpool’s seventh league loss from 18 games and the defeat pushed the Reds further out of title contention.

After Fernando Torres had skimmed the Portsmouth crossbar with a 20-meter drive, the home side responded by taking the lead.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to block a shot from Kevin-Prince Boateng. But Glen Johnson’s attempted headed clearance went straight to Belhadj who volleyed powerfully home from a tight angle.

Daniel Agger should have levelled six minutes later when he met a free kick but headed over from five meters out.

Getting worse

It got worse for Liverpool in the final minute of the first half when Mascherano was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Ben Haim. As they challenged for the ball, the Argentina midfielder’s knee caught the Israeli defender in between his legs and the incident prompted angry exchanges between players from both sides.

Although Mascherano was injured and needed treatment, referee Lee Mason showed him the red card as he got up.

Portsmouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic made a stunning reflex-action save to keep out a twice deflected shot from Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in the 67th minute.

The result: Portsmouth 2 (Nadir Belhadj 33, Frederic Piquionne 82) bt Liverpool 0. — AP

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