Jermain Defoe bagged a brace to complete the comeback against Middlesbrough after Mido had given the visitors a first half lead.
Pompey had started brighter and had more possession but some very suspect defending meant that Boro took the lead against the run of play. Sol Campbell and Younes Kaboul got completely confused which allowed Alves and Mido to combine before the irritating Egyptian predictably scored.
That was one of the few chances Boro created all game as Pompey were the better side overall and continued to play well despite going a goal down. The only problem is that, excluding Defoe's shot, we weren't creating any real chances and our crosses were being easily taken by Turnbull in the Middlesbrough goal.
Harry sensed this and changed the system at half-time from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 and brought on the impressive Nadir Belhadj for his debut and he worked well with Armand Traore down the left to give us plenty of threat.
The equaliser came when Crouch played in Defoe and the England striker squeezed in his shot in at the near post. From then on it was all Pompey pressure as Defoe backheeled the ball for Sean Davis who for some reason decided to try and chip the 'keeper but sent the ball far too high.
Defoe had a shot cleared off the line before the finally grabbed the winner late on, showing a poachers instinct following a loose ball bouncing kindly for him in the box. He should have had a hat-trick but fired a weak shot at goal in stoppage time that was again cleared off the line.
I am very happy after watching our first win at home since we beat Wigan at the end of March. We passed the ball really well and that was mainly down to Lassana Diarra who was everywhere and pulled the strings in the midfield.
There was hardly any "hoof 'n' hope" football and I was entertained today which is something that couldn't be said towards the end of last season (barring the FA Cup Final of course - it is worth watching Harry's interview on Sky Sports about this subject, he clearly isn't happy!)
If I had any criticism today it would be that we seem to to be relying on Defoe for our goals as nobody else really looked like chipping in. Crouch was a good team player but never looked like scoring whilst Davis and Diop had a few "Quashie" moments shall we say.
On a side note, new referee Stuart Attwell didn't do too well did he? Boro fans will argue that they should have had a penalty after Belhadj seemed to foul Downing in the box whilst Pompey might have had a spot kick themselves after Johnson was taken out in the area.
I'm not going to complain though. This was a very good performance that showed our character and quality which should bode well going into our historic match on Thursday with Vitoria Guimaraes.
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 6 - Didn't really have much to do.
Glen Johnson: 7 - Did a fine job.
Younes Kaboul: 5 - Looked suspect.
Sol Campbell: 6 - Shaky start but got his act together eventually.
Sylvain Distin: 7 - Solid as usual.
Armand Traore: 7 - Looks much better in midfield than defence.
Sean Davis: 7 - Battled hard.
Lassana Diarra: 9 - A class above the rest in midfield.
Papa Bouba Diop: 6 - Shouldn't be shooting from distance....
Jermain Defoe: 9 - Tore Boro's defence apart but should have scored more.
Peter Crouch: 7 - Linked up play well.
Substitutes
Jamie Ashdown
Hermann Hreidarsson (A Traore 84): N/A - Late tactical change.
Nadir Belhadj (Kaboul 46): 7 - Impressive debut.
Noe Pamarot
Arnold Mvuemba
John Utaka (Diop 46): 6 - Needs to build confidence.
David Nugent
Pompey had started brighter and had more possession but some very suspect defending meant that Boro took the lead against the run of play. Sol Campbell and Younes Kaboul got completely confused which allowed Alves and Mido to combine before the irritating Egyptian predictably scored.
That was one of the few chances Boro created all game as Pompey were the better side overall and continued to play well despite going a goal down. The only problem is that, excluding Defoe's shot, we weren't creating any real chances and our crosses were being easily taken by Turnbull in the Middlesbrough goal.
Harry sensed this and changed the system at half-time from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 and brought on the impressive Nadir Belhadj for his debut and he worked well with Armand Traore down the left to give us plenty of threat.
The equaliser came when Crouch played in Defoe and the England striker squeezed in his shot in at the near post. From then on it was all Pompey pressure as Defoe backheeled the ball for Sean Davis who for some reason decided to try and chip the 'keeper but sent the ball far too high.
Defoe had a shot cleared off the line before the finally grabbed the winner late on, showing a poachers instinct following a loose ball bouncing kindly for him in the box. He should have had a hat-trick but fired a weak shot at goal in stoppage time that was again cleared off the line.
I am very happy after watching our first win at home since we beat Wigan at the end of March. We passed the ball really well and that was mainly down to Lassana Diarra who was everywhere and pulled the strings in the midfield.
There was hardly any "hoof 'n' hope" football and I was entertained today which is something that couldn't be said towards the end of last season (barring the FA Cup Final of course - it is worth watching Harry's interview on Sky Sports about this subject, he clearly isn't happy!)
If I had any criticism today it would be that we seem to to be relying on Defoe for our goals as nobody else really looked like chipping in. Crouch was a good team player but never looked like scoring whilst Davis and Diop had a few "Quashie" moments shall we say.
On a side note, new referee Stuart Attwell didn't do too well did he? Boro fans will argue that they should have had a penalty after Belhadj seemed to foul Downing in the box whilst Pompey might have had a spot kick themselves after Johnson was taken out in the area.
I'm not going to complain though. This was a very good performance that showed our character and quality which should bode well going into our historic match on Thursday with Vitoria Guimaraes.
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 6 - Didn't really have much to do.
Glen Johnson: 7 - Did a fine job.
Younes Kaboul: 5 - Looked suspect.
Sol Campbell: 6 - Shaky start but got his act together eventually.
Sylvain Distin: 7 - Solid as usual.
Armand Traore: 7 - Looks much better in midfield than defence.
Sean Davis: 7 - Battled hard.
Lassana Diarra: 9 - A class above the rest in midfield.
Papa Bouba Diop: 6 - Shouldn't be shooting from distance....
Jermain Defoe: 9 - Tore Boro's defence apart but should have scored more.
Peter Crouch: 7 - Linked up play well.
Substitutes
Jamie Ashdown
Hermann Hreidarsson (A Traore 84): N/A - Late tactical change.
Nadir Belhadj (Kaboul 46): 7 - Impressive debut.
Noe Pamarot
Arnold Mvuemba
John Utaka (Diop 46): 6 - Needs to build confidence.
David Nugent