Firstly I'd like to aplogise for this column being up late. I got back from East London much later than I expected last night and today I have been watching the other matches in the Premiership to see what happened. For the record, Fulham pulled off a great result and beat Chelsea today so I think we can officially rule them out of the relegation battle now.
Anyway... what a result that was yesterday! 4-2 and some might say that scoreline was flattering to West Ham because we could have had more. Yes, some people can whinge all they want about West Ham playing a weakened team (and it is mainly the Brummies that have been squinnying..) however I believe The Hammers still fielded a relatively strong team with their first choice defence out and a strike force not to be under-estimated either.
The performance from Pompey yesterday was the best I have seen since Southampton at home last season. Kiely did well when he did have saves to make, the defence were relatively solid however when we did go 3-0 up there was a spell where West Ham had us under pressure and Lua Lua of all people cleared the ball off the line. There was a lot of fight about Pompey and that's exactly what we want to see in our current situation.
The midfield were superior to West Ham's and made an excellent contribution to the match. Davis keeps getting better and better and scored a poachers goal, Mendes put in yet another classy performance and I said I'd happily take another Mendes super strike to win the game and that is exactly what I got as the game was virtually won at half time forcing the Pompey fans to chant "What the fuck is going on!?" We just don't do 3-0 at half-time away from home!
Teddy Sheringham predictably got a poachers goal to bring it back to 3-1 for a former Hammer would soon put the result out of doubt by tapping in a fourth after coming on as sub for Benjani who once again missed a sitter. He has to score eventually doesn't he!? My man of the match was definately Lomana Lua Lua. He was on fire and tore the West Ham defence apart, especially their full backs. He scored the first following great work from Matty to get the cross in, he ran his arse off for the cause and made mincemeat of Konchesky with a great piece of skill to supply Toddy for his goal. Here's hoping he plays like this more often! Benayoun got a late consolation but at that time nobody seemed to care.
Birmingham and West Brom also lost tommorow which now brings the gap down to three points. All of a sudden survival looks a realistic possibility! There's still plenty of work to do though when Arsenal visit Fratton Park on Saturday, we need at least a point from that one to stay on course for a great escape.
But for now let's enjoy this fantastic result, Pompey are finally starting to play up!
Anyway... what a result that was yesterday! 4-2 and some might say that scoreline was flattering to West Ham because we could have had more. Yes, some people can whinge all they want about West Ham playing a weakened team (and it is mainly the Brummies that have been squinnying..) however I believe The Hammers still fielded a relatively strong team with their first choice defence out and a strike force not to be under-estimated either.
The performance from Pompey yesterday was the best I have seen since Southampton at home last season. Kiely did well when he did have saves to make, the defence were relatively solid however when we did go 3-0 up there was a spell where West Ham had us under pressure and Lua Lua of all people cleared the ball off the line. There was a lot of fight about Pompey and that's exactly what we want to see in our current situation.
The midfield were superior to West Ham's and made an excellent contribution to the match. Davis keeps getting better and better and scored a poachers goal, Mendes put in yet another classy performance and I said I'd happily take another Mendes super strike to win the game and that is exactly what I got as the game was virtually won at half time forcing the Pompey fans to chant "What the fuck is going on!?" We just don't do 3-0 at half-time away from home!
Teddy Sheringham predictably got a poachers goal to bring it back to 3-1 for a former Hammer would soon put the result out of doubt by tapping in a fourth after coming on as sub for Benjani who once again missed a sitter. He has to score eventually doesn't he!? My man of the match was definately Lomana Lua Lua. He was on fire and tore the West Ham defence apart, especially their full backs. He scored the first following great work from Matty to get the cross in, he ran his arse off for the cause and made mincemeat of Konchesky with a great piece of skill to supply Toddy for his goal. Here's hoping he plays like this more often! Benayoun got a late consolation but at that time nobody seemed to care.
Birmingham and West Brom also lost tommorow which now brings the gap down to three points. All of a sudden survival looks a realistic possibility! There's still plenty of work to do though when Arsenal visit Fratton Park on Saturday, we need at least a point from that one to stay on course for a great escape.
But for now let's enjoy this fantastic result, Pompey are finally starting to play up!