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Match Report
Crystal Palace v Portsmouth 26 December 2004
Primus undoes suspect Palace
Crstal Palace 0 - 1 Portsmouth
'Who the hell is Harry Redknapp?' is a printable version of the chant that echoed around Selhurst Park as Portsmouth's fans celebrated a 1-0 away victory to Crystal Palace.
Even allowing for a narrow, undeserved loss to champions Arsenal, Pompey's players have responded superbly to Redknapp's rather acrimonious departure, and then swift re-emergence at neighbours Southampton.
Linovy Primus was the unlikely matchwinner with a far post header that should have been kept out by Gabor Kiraly.
Palace's top scorer Andy Johnson looked sharp from the first whistle and threatened on a couple of occasions but Valery Mezague should have scored at the other end when wildly blazing off target following fine approach work from Patrik Berger, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Steve Stone.
The hard-working Nigel Quashie jacknifed a shot towards goal that Kiraly caught safely but the home side had opportunities too with Michael Hughes firing over the top from Wayne Routledge's clever corner and Ben Watson seeing his low drive expertly palmed away by Shaka Hislop.
With defenders battling to block most of the goalbound attempts, notably Arjan De Zeeuw who was magnificent for Pompey, the first period predictably ended goalless.
Pompey took a grip on proceedings after the break and could have gone ahead when Quashie's pass found Steve Stone inside the box. A heavy first touch looped the ball up in the air but it granted Stone extra space and his stinging drive was kept out at full stretch by Kiraly.
Kiraly had to be acrobatic again from the resulting corner to tip away Yakubu's header and the Eagles keeper also denied De Zeeuw and clawed away an effort by Quashie.
But the Hungarian shot-stopper was culpable when the deadlock was crucially broken. Primus met a corner at the far post with an accurate header and Kiraly groped at the ball embarrassingly as it found the net.
Pompey instantly looked more assured and the stylish Berger rifled a glorious free kick inches wide. Substitute Ricardo Fuller then hit a post with a storming effort as the visitors looked to seal the points.
Palace, as expected, showed some spirit to search for an equaliser. Manager Iain Dowie had already been ticked off by referee Neale Barry for becoming overly heated and Gonzalo Sorondo could have salvaged a point.
The shaggy-haired defender had a shot blocked during one scramble and saw Hislop brilliantly turn away his header from point-blank range with time running out.
Johnson was largely kept subdued by De Zeeuw after his bright opening and he was unable to connect properly when attacking a cross after Fitz Hall ducked under the centre as it fizzed in.
Andy Griffin's crude challenge on Joonas Kolkka sparked a mass confrontation, and Palace may look back to one appeal for hand-ball when Sorondo shot goalwards during another goalmouth scramble, but Pompey shaded it in terms of an extra touch of class and nous and deserved the victory.
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