Once again it wasn't the best game, Bolton never made it easy for us and constantly hoofed it into dangerous areas in an attempt to panic our defence and of course it doesn't help when your captain is injured early on either...
For the second game running we have a dodgy penalty awarded against us. Having seen the replay on TV I think Stelios was looking for it but oh well, who cares when the penalty "effort" by Fadiga was put high and wide much to the amusement of the home crowd. Fadiga would have his revenge though as a dodgy free kick decision went Bolton's way as Taylor looked to have barged Stelios though once again, I thought he went down very easily. From the resulting free kick a defensive howler would let the ball creep into the corner of the net.
Defeat was unthinkable and I was starting to pray for a miracle.. and I got one as Azar Karadas finally scored for Pompey! It was actually a very decent volley and very unexpected from someone who seems to be lacking confidence but I don't think he has played too badly actually and he does give us an extra option up front. Fair play to the man and let's hope that the goal boosts his confidence.
Now onto the piece you've probably read this article for if you didn't see the game. How did the new signings do? Well Koroman wasn't even in the squad but Routledge and D'Alessandro played the whole game. I thought both were excellent as Routledge showed some nice touches and wasn't afraid to take the Bolton defence on and also worked hard for the team.
D'Alessandro however was something else and if his debut performance is anything to go by then the Newcastle defence will be cacking theirselves on Saturday. This kid had an amazing first touch, drew defenders towards him and even then usually managed to get past them. He has plenty of tricks up his sleeve and wasn't afraid to show them as he skinned and megged the opposition and basically gave what is usually a solid defence a torrid time. He also has a great pass on him and can take a decent set piece too (apart from one bad corner!) He also works well for the team as his link up play with the midfield and Toddy was good. If he keeps this sort of performance up he will be one hell of an asset in our fight against the drop.
Credit should also go to Benjani who somehow managed to play almost two full matches in two days with a flight from Egypt to England in between so kudos to him for working hard tonight. I do hope we start with Todorov on Saturday though, he looked lively and caused Bolton problems when he came on and should have scored if it wasn't for Joey O'Brien clearing off the line.
Reflecting on the match a win would have been ideal but the fact is that we have scraped a draw when we could have been beaten had Fadiga stuck that penalty in. Who knows how important that late Karadas equaliser will be...