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Crouch's efforts in vain
07/05/2006 19:41 - (SA)
Portsmouth - Peter Crouch came off the bench to inspire Liverpool to a club record 11th successive win but a 3-1 victory away to Portsmouth at Fratton Park here on Sunday was not enough to earn Rafael Benitez's side second place in the Premiership.
Crouch boosted his claims of replacing Wayne Rooney in England's World Cup plans by scoring one goal and making another for fellow substitute Djibril Cisse.
But Manchester United's 4-0 win over Charlton condemned the European Cup holders to third spot as Liverpool ended the 2005/06 season with a flourish.
Not that Portsmouth fans cared too much after the south coast club had assured themselves of Premiership survival the previous week with victory at Wigan Athletic.
Steven Gerrard was denied his 21st goal of the season by a superb save from Portsmouth goalkeeper Dean Kiely in only the 10th minute.
Denmark defender Brian Priske under hit a backwards header from John Arne Riise's searching cross, allowing Gerrard to race through one-on-one with Kiely but the Irishman came charging out of his goal to save with his left leg.
Gerrard was presented with another sight of goal six minutes later but the Liverpool captain drove a 25-yard shot well wide of Kiely's right hand post.
Whipped in an inviting cross
Portsmouth, without the injured Lomana LuaLua and rested Pedro Mendes, took until the 20th minute to create their first opportunity when record signing Benjani Mwaruwari broke free down the right and whipped in an inviting cross from the byline, which strike partner Svetoslav Todorov narrowly failed to reach.
Richard Hughes passed up a golden opportunity to register his first ever Premiership goal midway through the first half when Priske jinked his way past two defenders before pulling the ball back for Hughes to shoot first time but the Scot took too many touches and the chance had passed.
Benitez's preparations for next weekend's FA Cup final against West Ham were thrown into turmoil five minutes before halftime when midfielder Xabi Alonso was carried from the pitch on a stretcher after landing awkwardly on his ankle following a challenge by Benjani and was replaced by Jan Kromkamp.
Liverpool's stand-in goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was called into action for the first time on the stroke of halftime, diving low to his left to keep out Benjani's close range strike after Linvoy Primus had headed on Andres D'Alessandro's right wing corner.
England midfielder Gerrard carved the Pompey defence open once more three minutes after the re-start, beating left back Matt Taylor before picking out Fernando Morientes but the Spaniard scooped his shot over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
Into the bottom left hand corner
Liverpool eventually took the lead in the 52nd minute courtesy of Fowler's fifth goal since making a hero's return to Anfield in January.
Fernando Morientes bought down a Harry Kewell centre on the chest before slotting the ball through to Fowler who steered a left footed shot around Kiely and into the bottom left hand corner from fifteen yards out.
Substitute Crouch looked to have put the game out of Pompey's reach when he tapped in the visitors' second seven minutes from time after Kiely palmed Cisse's cross-cum-shot into his path.
Pompey hit back two minutes later through substitute Ognjen Koroman's first goal in English football, turning in Wayne Routledge's cross at the back post.
Cisse restored the two-goal lead two minutes from time, beating Kiely with an angled shot from the edge of the six-yard box after being teed up by Crouch.
- AFP
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