Capital Punishment

Last updated : 07 October 2007 By Jim Bonner
We're not used to this are we? Three away wins on the trot without a single goal conceded! Benjani's the joint-top goalscorer in the league and we're now riding high in fifth place which is a great start considering the fixtures we've played so far.

The first half at Fulham was pretty even, although David James made a string of saves to keep us in the game including a great block from Healy who looked certain to score from Bouazza's cross.

The best chance we had in the half came when Jamo threw a great ball to release Utaka who took the ball all the way down the pitch but had his shot saved by Keller. Muntari also had a couple of early shots but nothing came of them and the rest of the half mainly consisted of both sides giving the ball away too often.

The second half was a different story from a Pompey point of view though. Benjani got his sixth goal of the season after his shot from outside took a deflection from Bocanegra after the Zimbawean did well to shrug him off.

And before you knew it, we were two goals up! Hermann Hreidarsson and Niko Kranjcar combined well on the left and a reverse ball from Krunchie played Hermann into the box. His shot also took a deflection at the expense of Chris "Scummer" Baird and the ball hit the back of the net, much to the delight of the Pompey fans.

Fulham huffed and puffed after that but our defence were gritty and determined to keep a clean sheet as they dealt with everything the likes of Danny Murphy and Diomansy Kamara had to throw at us.

If anything, we could have added a third on the counter-attack but Utaka and Benjani wasted their opportunities to finish Fulham off. Not that it mattered, because we just proved to be too strong on the day and were deserving of our win.

I'm feeling like I'm living in a parallel universe at the moment. Benjani's become prolific all of a sudden whilst Portsmouth FC are winning away from Fratton Park! Cult heroes Matt Taylor and Pedro Mendes can't make the starting line-up, we're scoring goals aplenty in a 4-5-1 system and we look like the real deal this season.

Maybe if I pinch myself, I'll wake up....

Pompey Player Ratings

David James: 8 - Best performance of the season for Jamo having made plenty of crucial saves.

Glen Johnson: 6 - Was hit-and-miss against Bouazza.

Sol Campbell: 8 - Dominant in the box whether it be on the ground or in the air.

Sylvain Distin: 7 - Another solid display.

Hermann Hreidarsson: 8 - Great going forward and more than steady at the back.

Sean Davis: 8 - Yet another good performance in the defensive midfield role.

Papa Bouba Diop: 6 - Not up to the standard of his recent showings.

Sulley Muntari: 7 - Impressive and strong.

John Utaka: 7 - Always caused Fulham's defence problems, but needs more of an end product.

Niko Kranjcar: 7 - Creative display and seems to work well with Hermann on the left.

Benjani: 8 - His pace and guile meant he was always a threat and now he's found his scoring touch!

Substitutes

Jamie Ashdown

Noe Pamarot: N/A - Came on late for Hreidarsson.

Pedro Mendes: 6 - Steady substitute appearance.

Matthew Taylor

David Nugent