sunday papers portsmouth away

sunday times: Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2: Pompey fury at Cole penalty Rob Hughes at Fratton Park THE Portsmouth team, by word and by deed, managed to get rid of their manager, but by running into the best team in England they could not arrest the defeats that now number five out of the past five times that Chelsea have come to this part of the south coast. According to the rumour mill, Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock is on his way to Fratton Park and will be paid £1m a year — on the evidence of this performance Warnock will earn every penny. And Chelsea? So much more composed and adept on and off the ball, they won comfortably to stretch their advantage at the top of the Premiership to 11 points. There were mixed emotions towards absent friends here yesterday evening. Nobody seemed to lament Alain Perrin, the Frenchman who had come and gone, dismissed after 21 games as Portsmouth manager. But for George Best, a friend of the chairman Milan Mandaric from their days together in San Jose, California, 27 years ago, there was the kind of reaction to melt the chilled night air. George would have approved. In keeping with the new vogue that began at midday in Wolverhampton, the crowd decided against the traditional silence and paid homage with a resounding applause, a chant of "Only one Georgie Best". Only one indeed. And one player who might have imagined, in his fantasies, that he is the modern entertainer, Laurent Robert, was not on the Portsmouth teamsheet, nor was the regular left-back Gregory Vignal. The revolution had started. And yet, hard and tenacious as Pompey fought, it was mostly Chelsea who had possession. But even then, Lomana LuaLua almost brought off a stunning surprise. In the 17th minute he was lurking 10 yards outside the Chelsea penalty box, with no Claude Makelele to police that space in front of the defence. Languidly, LuaLua allowed the ball to bounce once and then, with a short backlift but tremendous power from his right foot, he aimed his shot. It was heading just beneath the crossbar when Petr Cech arched his back and flicked the ball over the goal. At least we could see that under Joe Jordan, again the caretaker manager, Portsmouth would give up nothing without combat. There was too much of it in the 26th minute when Richard Hughes crash-tackled Joe Cole. Referee Phil Dowd was about to lecture Hughes when he was distracted by the noise from the touchline. The Chelsea head coach, Jose Mourinho, was throwing a tantrum, telling the referee his duty. Without a card for Hughes, but with stern words in the Portuguese ear, Dowd dealt with it in his own way. However, the free kick rewarded Chelsea even without Hughes being booked. It was touched to the right, Paulo Ferreira then drove it hopefully into the danger area, and there, ghosting into the action, was Hernan Crespo. With a deft deflection, the Argentinian striker scored from six yards, his third goal in three games for Chelsea. How can they leave him out? Alas, his contribution did not last until half-time. After being treated for bruising on his left hip bone, he was replaced after 38 minutes by the England Under-21 striker Carlton Cole. "I hope he recovers, because he's on fire," said Mourinho afterwards. In reality the "star man" of this encounter was Team Chelsea as Portsmouth tried to kick the champions out of their stride. "Cheat! Cheat!" the home supporters cried when Joe Cole, as brave as could be, was hauled down inside the penalty area by Dejan Stefanovic. Despite angry protests by the Pompey faithful, Dowd had got this one right. It was a clear penalty. It was the moment for the inevitable Frank Lampard to crown his extraordinary record of 160 consecutive Premiership appearances with the spot-kick, which was his 11th goal in 14 matches. It could have been so much worse for Portsmouth — the yellow cards dished out to Hughes and Stefanovic for their treatment of Joe Cole could so easily have been red. Afterwards, Jordan appealed for Mandaric to appoint a successor to Perrin as soon as possible — provided they make sure it is the right man. Jordan could still be in charge against his old club Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday but has made it clear he does not want the manager's job and would prefer to remain as coach. He picked the team for this match, and said: "I enjoyed the responsibility of that but I'm content to work with the players on the training field. They were up for this match and I had high hopes until the first goal. That made it a hard task for us, but the team played with good spirit. "When Chelsea got the second goal from the penalty spot it was very difficult for us. But there are some good players here and we have a good set of supporters. "What we need now is to have the right man in charge. That's up to the chairman to get who he wants. He's made changes over his time here but it is his choice. "I know that I will be going to Old Trafford next week either as temporary manager or coach. I've got a contract until the end of the season but as long as I'm working in football I'm happy." Mourinho saw his team go those 11 points clear at the top of the Premiership and said: "We were quite comfortable in the end. Portsmouth's players were aggressive but not too aggressive and our players did well to cope. "Joe Cole played a good game and I only took him off before the end because he has four bookings and will be suspended after the next one. "Joe is one of the best wingers in the game but I'm going to leave him in peace and not call him the new George Best like you ask. "We could have had two penalties, not just one. Joe Cole was fouled inside the box after Frank Lampard scored the first but the free kick was outside. "Frank was in good form as usual. It is an incredible feat to play 160 games in a row in the League." Of Crespo's injury, Mourinho said: "It could be his back, his ribs, his leg, anything. We are not sure yet. We have Didier Drogba and Claude Makelele out injured but Carlton Cole came on as a substitute and did well for us." STAR MAN: Joe Cole (Chelsea) Player ratings. Portsmouth: Ashdown 7, Priske 6, O'Brien 6, Stefanovic 5, Griffin 6, O'Neil 7, Diao 6, Hughes 5, Taylor 5, Silva 4 (Todorov 64min, 6), LuaLua 6 Chelsea: Cech 7, Ferreira 7, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, Gallas 7, J Cole 8 (Geremi 82min, 6), Gudjohnsen 7, Essien 7, Lampard 7, Duff 7 (Wright-Phillips 80min, 6), Crespo 7 (C Cole 38min, 6) Scorers: Chelsea: Crespo 27, Lampard 67 pen Referee: P Dowd Attendance: 20,182 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ mirror: HE'S JUST FRAN-TASTIC PORTSMOUTH......0 CHELSEA...............2 Crespo 27, Lampard (pen) 67: Lampard wraps it up on his day to remember Paul Smith FRANK LAMPARD put the seal on his record-breaking day with the penalty that wrapped up another three points for Chelsea and prolonged the misery for Portsmouth. A week of turmoil on the South Coast finally ended with the departure of French coach Alain Perrin on Thursday morning. Perrin's pleas to be given more time following a dismal run of just four wins in 21 games, the worst record of any manager in the club's history, fell on deaf ears as chairman Milan Mandaric reluctantly wielded the axe in an attempt to save the club from relegation. In the absence of an immediate successor, Joe Jordan took temporary charge as Pompey welcomed the defending Premiership champions. George Best, who had been a regular visitor to Fratton Park over the years because of his 27-year friendship with Mandaric, received a fitting send-off from the capacity crowd, who witnessed a historical day for Lampard, playing in his 160th consecutive Premiership game and beating the record previously held by Man City goalkeeper David James. Pompey belied their position at the foot of the table by taking the game to the leaders. But it was Lampard who came closest to opening the scoring when his 25-yard free-kick went narrowly wide. Then an astonishing save from Chelsea keeper Petr Cech in the 18th minute denied Pompey's Lomana LuaLua when he struck the ball from 20 yards with the outside of his foot only to watch in dismay as the Czech international tipped the ball over the bar in full flight. Pompey continued to trouble the leaders as their renewed confidence was evident. However, the danger signs were there every time the visitors pushed forward in numbers. When Jose Mourinho remonstrated with the referee following a late tackle by Richard Hughes on Joe Cole, the goading by the home fans backfired on them. Barely a minute later the ball reached the feet of Paulo Ferreira and when Jamie Ashdown appeared to have his shot covered, Argentine striker Hernan Crespo nipped in to divert the ball into the net. Crespo was to play no further part in the game - he limped off the field in the 38th minute and was replaced by Carlton Cole. Pompey almost equalised in first-half stoppage time. LuaLua sent the ball in hard and low and when Gary OiNeill picked it up and centred for Dario Silva, Cech dived at his feet to retrieve the ball. Pompey came out fired up for the second half and immediately embarked on trying to find an equaliser. But once Chelsea had weathered the homes side's early storm, they began to take control of the game. To their credit Pompey, backed by the vocal support of their fans, continued to plug away. Midfielder Richard Hughes, who was lucky to escape a caution in the first half when he brought down Joe Cole, wasn't so lucky when he went in late on the same player in the 59th minute and referee Phil Dowd immediately brandished the yellow card. Jordan decided to freshen up his striking options in the 63rd minute and sent on Svetoslav Todorov. But four minutes after he entered the field of play Pompey went 2-0 down when Dejan Stefanovic brought Joe Cole down in the penalty area and Lampard stepped up to score his 12th goal of the campaign from the spot. The home side were fortunate not to concede another penalty just minutes later when Stefanovic brought that man Cole down again and referee Dowd adjudged it was just outside the box. The second goal effectively killed the game off as a contest and as the home side's discipline appeared to disintegrate, only the intervention of Jordan, who took Hughes off the pitch, prevented the midfielder from leaving the field in shame. Sadly his replacement, John Viafara, took on Hughes's mantle and brought Cole down with his first tackle. Eidur Gudjohnsen almost added a third from the subsequent free-kick but was denied by Ashdown. Chelsea barely broke sweat as they saw out the game to take the three points and strengthen their position at the top MAN OF THE MATCH JOE COLE The Chelsea star simply tormented Pompey with a vintage display on the wing. Cole was in irresistible form.RATINGS PORTSMOUTH: Ashdown 7, Stefanovic 7, O'Brien 7, Priske 7, Griffin 7, Hughes 6, Diao 6, O'Neil 7, Taylor 7, Silva 6 (Todorov 6), LuaLua 7. CHELSEA: Cech 7, Essien 8, Carvalho 7, Lampard 7, Crespo 7 (C Cole 6), J COLE 9, Duff 7, Gallas 7, Ferreira 7, Gudjohnsen 7, Terry 7. MANAGERS: Jordan 7; Mourinho 7 REFEREE: P Dowd 7 Portsmouth's last victory over Chelsea at Fratton Park is almost ancient history, 3-0 on Boxing Day 1957. Russia had just launched the first ever living being into space, a dog called Laika. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Observer: Chelsea in cruise control to glide past shaky Pompey Gerry Cox at Fratton Park Sunday November 27, 2005 The Observer Chelsea moved 11 points clear at the top of the Premiership after yet another functional rather than thrilling victory, a result that leaves Portsmouth still deep in trouble. Having sacked Alain Perrin earlier in the week and then seen the death of his close friend, George Best, Pompey chairman Milan Mandaric must have been hoping for a ray of light from this game, but with Chelsea cruising mercilessly towards a second successive title, an upset was never on the cards. A first-half goal from Hernan Crespo and a second-half penalty from Frank Lampard were enough to see Chelsea through what became a bad-tempered game, but they hardly got out of second gear against caretaker-manager Joe Jordan's side. What must have dismayed Jordan was that on this evidence, Chelsea's players possessed not just superior skill and confidence, but greater strength and determination to win the ball. Their hunger is easily explained. With such a large and talented squad, no one - with the possible exceptions of Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard - can allow his performance to dip without fear of losing his place. Didier Drogba was the victim on this occasion, the £26m striker not even making the substitutes' bench. Whatever the reason, the move gave a rare opportunity for Carlton Cole to play a Premiership game for Chelsea, the England under-21 striker going on as substitute for Crespo not long after the Argentine forward put his side ahead in the 27th minute. It was either a superb opportunist goal or somewhat fortunate, depending on your view. Certainly Paulo Ferreira's 30-yard shot appeared to be covered by goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown as he went towards the far corner of his goal before Crespo appeared from nowhere to divert the ball into the opposite side of the net with the outside of his boot. But when Crespo trotted off holding his ribs 12 minutes later, Cole got his chance to impress. Even though Pompey were on the back foot from the start, Chelsea played a patient game, happy to knock the ball around in their own half while waiting for openings. If the first half had been a curiously passionless affair, things livened up after the break, no doubt due to Jordan impressing on his players that they had half a chance if they were to take the game to Chelsea. Portsmouth started to show plenty of passion, certainly, but there was a bit too much bite for referee Phil Dowd, who produced a flurry of yellow cards for incidents involving the two Chelsea Coles, Joe and Carlton. The latter was also booked after a late challenge on Andy Griffin, but it was the former who caused most problems for Pompey and their supporters. Joe Cole had taken some heavy tackles from the opening minutes, but as the game opened up and he started running at opponents, they simply could not cope with him. Richard Hughes was booked for hauling him down on the hour, and five minutes later Dejan Stefanovic was cautioned after tripping the England midfielder in the penalty area. The resultant penalty brought protests from Portsmouth's players, howls of derision from their supporters and jibes towards Joe Cole and the referee. Television replays, however, showed that Mr Dowd was correct to spot Stefanovic trip Cole, and Lampard duly sent Ashdown the wrong way from the penalty spot. Not a bad way to celebrate his 160th successive league appearance, a new Premiership record. The crowd should have been grateful that the referee did not award another penalty when Cole was brought down by Stefanovic again. It looked marginally inside the penalty area, but Mr Dowd gave a free-kick outside. Lampard's free-kick was blocked by the defensive wall, and Joe Cole's follow-up shot flew over the bar, to the delight of the home supporters. Lomana LuaLua curled another one over the bar for Portsmouth, but despite the introduction of Svetoslav Todorov as a replacement for the disappointing Dario Silva, the home side hardly threatened Cech again. Chelsea could have had more, with Ricardo Carvalho missing a free header in front of goal, Carlton Cole volleying wastefully wide and Eidur Gudjohnsen having a fierce free-kick saved by Ashdown in the closing stages. But this Chelsea side seem happy enough to get the job done with the minimum of fuss, and the final whistle was as low-key as the rest of the match, except for more jeers aimed at the referee and the muted celebrations of the small band of Chelsea supporters. Man of the match: Joe Cole - Home fans howled 'diver' and worse every time he earned a free-kick, but in truth Cole was a step ahead of his heavy-tackling markers and just too quick for them. 'He's one of the best wingers in the game today,' said Jose Mourinho. 'The only way they could stop him was to foul him. He should have had two penalties, not one.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Telegraph: Record-breaker Lampard seals it for Chelsea By Trevor Haylett at Fratton Park Portsmouth (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2 It really matters not a jot who is in charge of Portsmouth, Chelsea will usually come here and win 2-0. They did so in Harry Redknapp's time and again when the luckless Velimir Zajec took his turn at the helm. Showing Alain Perrin the door last week was never likely to affect the stranglehold the champions enjoy over these opponents. If the fixture observed a rare symmetry it also showed that Frank Lampard, among all his other qualities, has a special gift for timing. On the day when he established a new record with a 160th consecutive Premiership appearance, the England midfielder rapped home a second-half penalty to seal a victory which sent Chelsea 11 points clear at the head of the field and again owed more to their application and understanding than outstanding skill. Then again there was not a lot for them to beat. Even for a chairman who's axe is constantly kept sharp - the next appointment will be the eighth manager to work under Milan Mandaric since he took control in 1999 - this has been a particularly hard week. Following Perrin's departure after a miserable record of four wins in 21 games, bookmakers have stopped taking bets on the return of Harry Redknapp to Fratton Park. Would Harry cross the South Coast divide a second time? It seems an unlikely possibility with Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock remaining the more likely candidate. Joe Jordan's first selection as caretaker gave his club's supporters an immediate lift as it showed the return of Dario Silva. The significance lay in the fact that Portsmouth would be confronting Chelsea with two strikers, a positive step forward from the previous era when attackers were burdened with solo duties. Initially Lomana LuaLua took strength from having company and showed nifty footwork to spread concern among Chelsea's defenders. From the opposite flank he dispatched an awkward low cross which Petr Cech was relieved to deal with cleanly. Soon Chelsea took control though their possession was confined to the central areas as the home team guarded their 18-yard line zealously. Lampard's free-kick skidded wide on 14 minutes but Chelsea had not seriously threatened before they took the lead in the 27th minute. Maybe Mourinho's protests after a particularly stiff challenge on Joe Cole, helped to stir his team. Lampard swept the ball square to Paulo Ferreira who' s shot from distance carried power. Jamie Ashdown probably had it covered but in nipped Hernan Crespo to apply the decisive touch. It was just about the last contribution from the Argentinian who took a knock and hobbled off in pain. Portsmouth, still without a home win after seven attempts, were having to work exceptionally hard for their openings. The home crowd demanded a more vigourous response from their team and it was answered with a spate of second-half bookings. Joe Cole aroused mounting hostility with the way he went to ground and there was a furious response when he tumbled in the area as Dejan Stefanovic caught him with a boot. Replays showed, however, that Phil Dowd had called the penalty correctly. Lampard's successful conversion was followed three minutes later by another Cole charge at Stefanovic. Down went the England man again in the box though he was quickly up on his feet to signal no foul. Dowd overruled him and then placed the ball outside the area, a decision which succeeded in baffling both sets of players. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Independent; Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2: Pompey wait on Warnock to chime in Sack-happy Mandaric watches his leaderless side succumb to the class of Crespo and Cole By Steve Tongue at Fratton Park Published: 27 November 2005 Sacking a manager generally has the desired effect of shaking a team up, with the players whose performances have brought the bad results suddenly stirring themselves. Finding that Chelsea are the next opposition, however, sharply diminishes the chances of improving a poor run, as Portsmouth discovered yesterday evening. However soon a new man is appointed in succession to Alain Perrin he can hardly look forward to the forthcoming trips to Manchester United and Tottenham, two of the sides in the group at the top of the Premiership who are playing for second place behind Chelsea. Goals by Hernan Crespo and Frank Lampard earned the visitors a comfortable victory here, extending their lead to a daunting 11 points. Lampard, after misplacing some early passes, became his usual influential self and converted a penalty to commemorate the day he broke David James' Premiership record of 160 consecutive appearances; it is a staggering run for an outfield player. Joe Cole, though less renowned for his consistency, outshone his midfield colleagues here and George Best, for all his allegiance to Portsmouth and their chairman Milan Mandaric, would have admired the brave way Cole continued to go at the home defenders despite some brutal treatment. His tangible reward was to earn the penalty that sealed the points. The names of Neil Warnock, Ruud Gullit and - intriguingly - Harry Redknapp are believed to be on the short-list compiled by the sack-happy Mandaric. Logically, even the promise of a huge wage increase ought not to be enough to tempt Warnock to leave his home-town club, Sheffield United, now that he finally has them in a position to reach the Premiership - all the more so since Pompey could pass them on the way down unless the right signings are made in January. But when did logic count for anything in the world of football management? "We've been through tough times before and we need unity from you all," Mandaric wrote in the match programme. The crowd were as good as ever, getting behind their team from the start and encouraging them into a reasonable first 20 minutes before the first goal. Portsmouth had one good moment before that occurred. In the 19th minute, the Uruguayan Dario Silva touched on a long clearance from the goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown and Lomana LuaLua hit a fierce shot that Petr Cech turned expertly over the bar with his left hand. But eight minutes later Paulo Ferreira moved forward to send in a drive towards the far side of the goal and an unmarked Crespo, showing dazzling reflexes, diverted it into the other side of the net past a startled Ashdown. It was the Argentinian's third goal in as many games, but he would not last as long as half-time. After taking the second of two bangs in the back he persuaded Jose Mourinho to replace him, Carlton Cole coming on for a rare and undistinguished appearance. Earlier Mourinho, understandably upset by three bad fouls on Joe Cole just in front of him, had been sharply spoken to by the referee, Phil Dowd, for making his displeasure known too vigorously. Soon after half-time Dowd was noting the names of Salif Diao, Carlton Cole and Richard Hughes all for bad tackles, quickly followed by Andy Griffin. The home crowd felt that Joe Cole went down too easily for that last challenge and they were furious when he fell under Dejan Stefanovic's challenge in the penalty area midway through the second half. But television replays confirmed the initial impression that he had turned too quickly for the Serbian international's lunge, and the penalty award was quite correct. Lampard banged in the spot-kick and only a couple of minutes later Stefanovic dived in on Cole equally rashly right on the edge of the area and was fortunate to escape with a free-kick and no second card. As Chelsea have not conceded a goal in the second half of their last 19 Premiership games, they were entitled to believe the hard work was done and the points were secure. So it proved and Mourinho was able to give a run to Shaun Wright-Phillips and Géremi, the latter almost adding to the lead with a deftly curled free-kick. "It was not easy," Mourinho said of the win, which counted as generosity in victory.