This was Pompey's first away defeat of the season against a strong West Ham United side bolstered by recent transfer acquisitions.
West Ham have an enviable squad of players that includes a lot of 'heavy hitters' with Premier League experience: Robert Green, Mark Noble, Carlton Cole, Matthew Taylor and David Bentley (a second half substitute) to name just a few.
Clearly, this is a Club that is 'going for broke' in its attempt to be promoted straight back to the Premier League under the stewardship of new manager Sam Allardyce.
Even with the departure of Scott Parker to Spurs before the Transfer Window closed, it will be a major surprise if West Ham are not involved in the final promotion shake-up at the end of the season.
Despite the defeat there were plenty of positives for Pompey fans to take away from this performance. There is no disgrace in losing to this West Ham outfit and the team can hold its head high knowing that they gave their all and played pretty well throughout.
The penalty awarded to West Ham was harsh - on another day with a different set of officials, Jason Pearce would not have been penalised for handball. It was a tough call on Pompey, especially as they'd just gone down to ten men.
Luke Varney was the stand out Pompey player on the day and had another good game, he looked a constant threat when running with the ball at his feet be it down the left flank or through the middle.
Benjani, who made his first start since his return to the club, looked lively throughout, it was just like 'the good old days'. The Zimbabwean had replaced Dave Kitson who was left out of the squad all together due to illness.
Tal Ben Haim also had a good game at left back, he has improved each time he puts on a Pompey shirt.
The game gave Pompey a chance to try out Marko Futacs who came on as a late substitutue in the second half. He is a 'big unit' and did cause a tiring defence a few problems up front. It's early days of course but there's something to build on there.
Overall, there was a very different approach to this game by Pompey. The team passed well, there were very few long balls, and they more than held their own until the sending off of skipper Liam Lawrence with the scores level at 2-2.
The Irish international received his second yellow card of the match for a poor tackle against David Bentley trying to chase back and retrieve the ball. He clipped Bentley on the ankle, TV replays on BBC's The Football League Show didn't do Lawrence any favours, it was a very poor challenge even though he was himself fouled only moments before, something the referee missed.
His first yellow was for a foul in the first half which on reflection was probably worse, his foot was over the ball and he caught the West Ham player just below the knee.
Lawrence appeared to be playing in a more central midfield role alongside Mullins and Norris with Varney and Huseklepp out wide. It's not his natural position and his two yellow cards for poor challenges are a reflection of that.
Lawrence passed the captain's armband to David Norris who will surely retain the responsibility for the match against Hull City.
Lawrence wasn't the only Pompey player to be cautioned and the bookings are being racked-up at an alarming rate. This is a discipline issue that's going to cause problems further down the line if it's not addressed soon. No wonder Pompey were described in some post match reports as a 'physical side'.
Finally, a word for Erik Huseklepp. He's still finding his feet in this division. There were however a couple of moments where he shone. Towards the end of the first half he forced Robert Green to make a save with his feet in response to the Norwegian firing a shot across goal. In the second half it was Huseklepp's cross that led to David Norris scoring with his far post header.
Some pictures from the match follow.
Match action pictures
Portsmouth versus West Ham United: Jamie Ashdown, Aaron Mokoena, Greg Halford, Jason Pearce, Tal Ben Haim, Liam Lawrence, Hayden Mullins, David Norris, Erik Huseklepp, Luke Varney, Benjani. Substitutues: Stephen Henderson, Joel Ward, Ricardo Rocha, Kanu, Marko Futacs
Attendance: 33,465 including 2,284 Pompey fans who travelled to East London. The Pompey fans were excellent following their team in such large numbers and made plenty of noise.
Pompey MOTM: Luke Varney was Pompey's MOTM.
Next up for Pompey: it's a long trip up North to play Hull City on Saturday 17th September at 3PM
Source for Pompey line-up and attendance figures: www.Portsmouthfc.co.uk
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