Georgi Kinkladze set up two goals and scored another as Manchester City eased
their First Division relegation worries with an easy win.
Portsmouth, watched by chairman Terry Venables, slid to their 14th league
defeat of the season to remain rooted to the foot of the table.
City, just a point off the bottom before the game, had to wait until the 44th
minute before taking the lead.
Georgian ace Kinkladze lifted a superb pass into the path of Michael Brown and
Craig Russell belted in his first goal for the club from close range with his
left foot.
Russell had not scored since his signing in November in a £1million swap with
Sunderland for Nicky Summerbee.
But once they had taken the lead there was never any doubting City would win
as Pompey struggled to muster a single shot to trouble Tommy Wright.
Goalkeeper Wright's only concern in the entire match came in the 18th minute
when he had to go full length to turn away a misplaced back-pass from Murtaz
Shelia.
Kinkladze put the result beyond doubt in the 52nd minute when Paul Dickov and
Uwe Rosler were involved on the edge of the area and the little Georgian
midfielder smashed an unstoppable 20-yard shot past goalkeeper Alan Knight.
Portsmouth were a well-beaten side when Rosler added a late third - and again
Kinkladze was involved.
His 60-yard run ended with a pass which set up a shooting opportunity for full
debutant Jim Whitley and although Knight saved his shot it ran free for Rosler
to run the ball over the line.
Portsmouth's problems began even before the match when leading scorer John
Aloisi pulled out with a training injury.
And his replacement, former Arsenal midfielder David Hillier, lasted only
three minutes before he was taken off on a stretcher following a tackle with
Brown.
Hillier's substitute Robbie Enes then managed only 54 minutes on the pitch
before he was also carried off on a stretcher, again after a collision.
Kinkladze was booked for protesting that he should have been awarded a penalty
after a typically mazey run in the first half.
Teams:
Portsmouth:0 Knight, Pethick, Thomson, McLoughlin, Waterman,
Awford, Hall, Foster, Hillier (Enes 5), Svensson, Igoe,
Enes (Durnin 57).
Subs Not Used: Whitbread.
Booked: Durnin.
Man City: Wright, Brightwell, Shelia, Brown, Symons, Edghill,
Jim Whitley, Russell, Dickov, Kinkladze, Rosler.
Subs Not Used: Van Blerk, Jeff Whitley, Brannan.
Booked: Kinkladze.
Goals: Russell 44, Kinkladze 51, Rosler 89.
Att: 13,512
Ref: P Taylor (Cheshunt).
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