Portsmouth continued their strong start to the season as a goal from substitute Lomana LuaLua secured a 1-0 defeat on Saturday of Charlton to send Pompey back top of the English Premiership.
Charlton strikers Marcus Bent and Darren Bent both hit the Portsmouth woodwork in the opening minute while Nwankwo Kanu went close for the visitors in the first half.
The Londoners dominated the second half, but Harry Redknapp's introduction of LuaLua proved the turning point as the Congo international fired home the only goal of the game from the edge of the area with 16 minutes remaining.
PHOTO: AP
Portsmouth have now kept a clean sheet for five consecutive league matches and sit top on 13 points, one clear of Manchester United, who had the chance to regain top spot with a win over Arsenal yesterday at Old Trafford.
"We've carried on from where we left off last season when we took 20 points from our last 10 games," Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said.
"We have been brilliant so far this season. We are trying to finish above our highest previous finish in the Premiership, which is 13th. We've had a good start, but we're not getting carried away," he said.
Everton missed the chance to join Portsmouth on 13 points after Wigan twice came from behind to seal a 2-2 draw.
Andy Johnson got his fifth goal of the season to put the Toffees in front shortly after the restart, but Paul Scharner equalized for Wigan on 62 minutes.
Everton were back in front a couple of minutes later when James Beattie scored from the penalty spot, after Gary Teale was judged to have fouled Leon Osman. Three minutes later, the sides were level again as Sharner netted his second, scoring with a left-footed shot from the left-hand side of the area.
Also on Saturday, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough played out a scoreless draw while goals from Kevin Doyle and Seol Ki-Hyeon secured a 2-1 win for Reading at Sheffield United.
Ademola Lookman on Thursday scored on his Atletico Madrid debut in a 5-0 rout of Real Betis Balompie that sent Diego Simeone’s team to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. David Hancko, Giuliano Simeone, Antoine Griezmann and Thiago Almada also scored for Atletico as they advanced to the last four for the third straight season. Atletico are trying to reach their first Copa final since winning the competition in 2012-2013. Hancko opened the scoring for the visitors in the 12th minute and Giuliano Simeone added to the lead in the 30th, before Lookman got his first goal for Atletico on a fast
GUNNING FOR A WIN: The victory sending Arsenal to the final for the first time in six years was cathartic for a team who had lost their previous four semi-finals Arsenal on Tuesday reached the League Cup final for the first time in eight years as Kai Havertz sealed a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the semi-final second leg. Mikel Arteta’s side had put themselves in pole position in the first leg and Havertz came off the bench to finish the 4-2 aggregate victory in the closing moments at the Emirates Stadium. It was a cathartic triumph for the Gunners, who had lost their previous four semi-finals in last year’s UEFA Champions League and League Cup, the 2022 League Cup and the 2021 UEFA Europa League. In their first final for six years,
SUPERSTAR DELIVERS: Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Spurs to a 135-123 victory over the Dallas Mavericks The Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday shook off the early exit of injured star Luka Doncic, rallying without him in the second half for a 119-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Austin Reaves, again coming off the bench in his second game back from a 19-game injury absence, scored 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, drilling a pair of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers their first lead of the game early in the final frame. “Losing Luka, you know nothing’s going to be easy after that because he does so much for us, but we bonded together,” said
France head coach Fabien Galthie on Thursday lauded his team’s attacking performance after their dazzling 36-14 victory over Ireland in their Six Nations opener. A brace of tries from Louis Bielley-Biarrey and one from mercurial flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert helped France storm into a 29-0 lead before taking their foot off the gas and allowing Ireland back into the match, before winger Theo Attissogbe put some gloss on the victory late on. “In an attacking sense, with the ball, the team played with great accuracy,” Galthie said. “It was one of the most accurate attacking performances in a long time, despite the weather
RSS