Pre kick off, much of the talk was about Mido's comments. The Egyptian said that Sol Campbell was the 'easiest defender he has ever played against'. Pompey were anxious to stick the comments back at the under fire Tottenham Hotspur side, and a good away win could achieve just that.

Harry Redknapp speak about the balance of his squad, the youth and experience provding a good force to be reckoned with. Matt Taylor and Benjani lost their places to Nico Kranjcar and the fit-again Lomano Lualua respectively, as Redknapp tried to freshen things up.

Spurs welcomed back their influential captain, defender Ledley King, who shakes off a troublesome injury to start. Robbie Keane, scorer of the winning goal in the UEFA cup midweek, surprisingly drops to the bench, and Mido doesn't figure in the starting line-up. Jermaine Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov shake off injuries to lead the attack against Pompey's mean defence.

Disaster strikes from the kick off. Portsmouth debut their new black away kit, but the dark days began almost instantly for the south coast side.

SPURS 1 POMPEY 0 - 1 min: Defoe makes run down right wing, and crosses to Bebatov. The Bulgarian striker's header is stopped by David James, but the Pompey keeper can't hold onto the ball. Johnson tries to clear, but knocks to the ball into the path of MURPHY, who poked in from two yards out to score within 39 seconds.

Pompey tried to reply instantly, but got nothing from a flurry of three corners. Tottenham cleared their lines well, and tried to find Berbatov, but James gathered the ball well.

Tottenham were clearly up for encounter, aggressively contesting every ball and holding possession well.

Kranjcar started well, and was involved in most of the action, but for all Portsmouth's probing, nothing was being created up front. Lomano Lualua almost ran clear on goal after being fed in by Krancjar, but a dubious foul by Pascal Chimbonda denied the Congolese striker.

Tottenham seemed content to pump long balls forward to Defoe and Berbatov, and only resolute defending from Davis prevents any real threates to James' goal. The tactic was disrupting Pomepy's rhythm well, with away side struggling to find any kind of fluency.

On 34 minutes, Tottenham were awarded a penalty after Zakora bursts into the box, only to be fouled by Pedro Mendes. The Tottenham midfielder seems to dive as Mendes tries to pull out of the challenge, and the replay shows a blatant case of 'simulation.' Pompey fans are furious.

SPURS 2 POMPEY 0 - 34min: DEFOE stepped up to take the spot kick, and planted a powerful strike to James' left, though the tall 'keeper managed to get a hand to the ball.

Pompoey needed to strike back quickly and they did.

SPURS 2 POMPEY 1 - 40 min: Portsmouth seemed fired up after going two behind, and replied almost instantly. With Danny Murphy providing no cover on the right, Gary O'Neil took on Assiou-Ekotto and skinned him to put in a sublime cross. KANU rose above the Tottenham defence to put in a powerful header past Robinson, who could only palm the ball into the his own net.

Portsmouth tried to find another to make things level at the break, but couldn't get anything through to the front two as Tottenham defended with increasing desperation.

HALF TIME: Tottenham 2 Portsmouth 1.

Martin Jol was forced to make a change at half time, Chimbonda went off with a calf strain, and his replacement Tom Huddlstone indicated a more attacking Spurs side.

But it was the visitors who had early possession, as they put the Tottenham side under pressure for almost the whole of the first five minutes.

Tottenham may have had a shout for a penalty, as the ball appeared to have struck Stefanovic's hand from Murphy's inswinging free kick, but the referee waved play on. Replays showed that Stefanovic got his head to the ball, so the decision was just about right.

For all Portsmouth's pressure, they struggled to create any threat on Robinson's goal. Kanu's shot missed to the right, and a wriggling run from LuaLua ended in a deflected shot into Robinson's gloves.

Redknapp decided to roll the dice early, and replaced Stefanovic and Davis with Matt Taylor and Benjani respectively, in an aggressive shake-up for Pompey. Campbell assumed the captaincy for the first time in a blue (or black) shirt.

Tottenham survived a scare as Robinson ran from his line to tackle Lualua by the corner flag, and the striker wriggled free, but his ball in could only find a Tottenham player with Benjani waiting on the edge of the 18 yard box.

A clash of heads between Campbell, Huddlestone and Dawson from Kranjcar's corner resulted in a lengthy delay, as the Tottenham players received treatment. Dawson was forced off and had to be replaced by the young Calum Davenport, but a bandaged Huddlestone made his way back on.

The play disrupted Portsmouth's attacking flow, which was a shame as the visitors had built up quite head of steam. A Tottenham corner fell to Jermaine Jenas, who's shot was well parried by David James.

The midfielder then collected the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box, only to spoon the shot horribly wide when a goal looked likely.

Portsmouth didn't manage a single shot on target in the second half, and huffed and puffed in the five minutes of stoppage time to steal a point. They nearly managed just that as a sublime cross from Benjani came to Lualua, who's header was acrobatically saved by Robinson who showed why he was the England No 1.

Tottenham may not have played well, but consigned Portsmouth to back-to-back defeats after such a good start to the season.

POMPEY TEAM:
4-4-2 - Manager Harry Redknapp
GK: D James - Fluffed his lines with the first goal 6 (out of 10)
RB: G Johnson - Good runs but too often dispossessed 6
CB: S Campbell - Unchracteristically sloppy 5
CB: L Primus - Solid as always though beaten for pace on occasion 7
LB: D Stefanovic - Sturdy as ever though could have got forward more 7
(SUB M Taylor 64)
RM: G O'Neil - Great cross for goal, but uncomposed at times 6
CM: P Mendes - Gradually came into game 6
CM: S Davies - Did well defensively, but couldn't create much 6
(SUB Benjani 64)
LM: N Krancjar - Effervescent on debut, a constant threat. 8 MOM
CF: L Lualua - A headache at times but tired at end. 7
CF: N Kanu - Great goal, but didn't receive the service needed. 7
(SUB A Cole 72)

Tottenham: Robinson, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson (Davenport 78) King, Chimbonda (Huddlestone 45) Ghaly, Murphy, Zakora, Jenas, Defoe, Berbatov (Keane 74)

VERDICT: What should have been a nervy Tottenham played with a fluency and aggression that surprised Portsmouth. The first goal was scrappy and will have disappointed Pompey fans, but the penalty is fully indicative of a diving plague that needs to be stamped out. Pompey's goal was well crafted, but the penalty had given them too much to do. Tottenham came out well in the second half defensively, but Redknapp will be upset that his side failed to create anything. A tricky set of fixtures coming up could have been helped by a win.
REFEREE: Chris Foy
MOMENT OF THE M ATCH: Kanu's goal showed the Pompey do have some resilence to be exploited.
MOAN OF THE MATCH: How much longer do we have to put up with theatrics in the beautiful game?
OPPOSITION VIEW: Spurs Rivals