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Match Report
Portsmouth v Manchester Utd 17 April 2004
STONE STRIKE SINKS RED DEVILS
Portsmouth 1-0 Man United
By James Pearson
Portsmouth gave their hopes of avoiding the drop a massive shot in the arm after Steve Stone's solitary goal for Pompey lifted them to a surprise 1-0 victory over champions Manchester United.
The former England international, on his 50th appearance for the South Coast side, was on hand to score from close range after 36 minutes, in the first league meeting between the sides at Fratton Park since 1987.
It was the home side who saw the first sight of goal but former Manchester City midfielder Eyal Berkovic failed to pull the trigger with his left foot from outside the penalty area.
However, once United settled they began to control the possession and force Pompey back. Louis Saha latched onto a long ball, but his right-footed effort was blocked for a corner.
Aiyegbeni Yakubu looked lively for Harry Redknapp's men, and he forced Gary Neville into a rash challenge that left referee Neale Barry with no option but to produce the first booking of the game.
The England international full back was causing problems of his own at the other end of the pitch, but Paul Scholes missed his driven shot in the middle of the box.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer then found himself one-on-one with Shaka Hislop, but the Norwegian, who is still working his way back to full fitness, could only find the Trinidad keeper after Scholes's through ball.
Wes Brown's mistake at the heart of the visitors' defender allowed Pompey an excellent chance to counter, however Tresor Lomana Lua Lua's touch let him down with Yakubu is acres of space.
The home side finally made the breakthrough after 36 minutes when Stone was on hand to collect Lua Lua's touch in the box to steer the ball past Carroll from close range.
United continued to control possession, but John O'shea, like Solskjaer, failed to find the back of the net from just inside the penalty area from a tight angle.
Pompey almost made it two before the break, however Yakubu wastefully blazed over after latching onto Brown's knockdown from the home side's free kick on the halfway line.
With United pushing for that all-important equaliser after the break they naturally left space at the back, and Pompey almost exploited that on two occasions.
Firstly, Yakubu blazed just wide after good work from Alexei Smertin, with Lua Lua loitering at the far post, and it was the Newcastle man who then tried his luck, but Carroll was equal to his shot.
Shortly before Eric Djemba-Djemba was replaced by the in-form Cristiano Ronaldo, the Cameroonian volleyed at Hislop, but the shot was well saved after Dejan Stefanovic's poor clearance.
The South Coast side then appealed for a penalty, however Mikael Silvestre did well to avoid the ball on the ground after Lua Lua initially retained possession on the floor that started a scramble in the box.
United were temporarily down to ten men when Yakubu caught Brown with a stray elbow, but it was accidental and Barry stopped play for the physios to see to the defender.
Despite heavy pressure from the visitors, Pompey's back line were superb, and their efforts were epitomised when Linvoy Primus cleared for a corner with Scholes bursting through from Butt's long ball.
The visitors were inches from levelling matter late on, but Saha's effort was blocked and Taylor, who appeared to handle the ball out of play, diverted Neville's overhead kick out for a corner.
It was almost a second for Pompey in injury time, but the pacey Yakubu, if anything, connected too sweetly with his shot that was straight at Carroll, who had no time to move in the visitors' goal.
Despite four minutes of injury time at Fratton Park, United could not pull off one of their trademark last-gasp showing to leave Sir Alex Ferguson's men from their seventh league defeat of the season.
Report From  , For full report and stats, click here.
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