Matthew Taylor's spectacular 40-yard goal sealed kamikaze Sunderland's
dramatic second half meltdown at the Stadium of Light.
A series of howling home errors gifted Portsmouth three priceless points and
earned valuable respite for beleaguered boss Alain Perrin after his day had got
off to the worst possible start.
Shorn of Laurent Robert apparently after a row over selection and a goal down
to Dean Whitehead's fourth minute penalty, it looked like the visitors would be
the ones suffering a post-match headache.
But after Zvonimir Vukic's 48th-minute equaliser Pompey seized on home
ineptitude with Taylor poking home after a howling blunder at the back then
launching his improbable effort over goalkeeper Kelvin Davis from close to the
halfway line.
The goal prompted a Sunderland fan to race onto the pitch to confront Davis as
the home fans streamed for the exits, missing Dario Silva's diving header which
brought Pompey's fourth 16 minutes from time.
The turnaround was remarkable after the day began with Robert seemingly going
AWOL and a needless Brian Priske handball giving Sunderland the advantage.
The home side ought to have added to their half-time advantage against the
strangely lethargic visitors who gave barely glimpse of the amazing turnaround
which was to come.
Silva showed some early promise up front and Stubbs did his best to present
the visitors with an equaliser when his miscued back-header almost caught out
Davis.
Sunderland had most of the possession but were let down by their final ball
while Pompey's only effort of note in the first period fell to Gary O'Neil,
whose low shot from the right was saved.
Whitehead might have sent Stephen Elliott racing clear on goal in the 37th
minute but his neat-looking through-ball was well cut out by Priske as both
sides continued to fail to capitalise.
Robert made a surprise reappearance to sit behind the visitors' dugout at
half-time and it was as if the controversial Frenchman's presence inspired his
team-mates from the restart.
They immediately began to capitalise on the home side's flat-footed rearguard
with Gregory Vignal almost finding Silva with his cross across goal.
It was little surprise when Pompey grabbed their equaliser, the Sunderland
defence failing to deal with Taylor's flick-on and the unmarked Vukic swinging a
left-foot shot past Davis.
A sustained period of possession by Sunderland again yielded next to no reward
with only a poor Whitehead effort from long range troubling keeper Jamie
Ashdown.
Sunderland brought about their own demise in the 59th minute after a mix-up
between Davis and Stubbs in the box.
The pair hesitated over a simple ball allowing it to squirm loose to the
lurking Taylor who gleefully poked Pompey into the lead.
It was Sunderland's turn to almost benefit from defensive confusion three
minutes later as nerves continued to riddle both defences.
Nosworthy cut in well from the right flank and crossed, provoking Taylor into
a lunge which luckily for the Pompey midfielder resulted in the ball squirming
out for a corner.
But it was all over for the home side in the 67th minute when Taylor launched
his long-range effort after spotting Davis off his line - and while team-mate
Silva was still writhing on the ground from an earlier challenge.
Taylor's strike prompted a supporter to race onto the pitch to confront Davis
before being ushered away, while all Davis' remaining touches in the game were
greeted by a chorus of boos.
Pompey were looking increasingly likely to add to their tally and the fourth
duly arrived in the 74th minute when Taylor crossed from the right and the
unmarked Silva launched a powerful header past the helpless and hapless Davis.
Sunderland pressed on as the stadium rapidly emptied but boss Mick McCarthy
knows his side now face a mountainous task after allowing one of their
supposedly most winnable home games go by the wayside in such dramatic fashion.
Teams:
Sunderland Davis, Nosworthy, Stubbs, Caldwell, Hoyte,
Lawrence (Stead 62), Whitehead, Miller (Robinson 50), Welsh,
Elliott, Gray.
Subs Not Used: Alnwick, Woods, Murphy.
Goals: Whitehead 4 pen.
Portsmouth Ashdown, Priske, Primus, Stefanovic, Vignal,
Vukic (Viafara 68), O'Neil, Griffin, Hughes,
Taylor (Todorov 84), Silva (Mbesuma 77).
Subs Not Used: Westerveld.
Booked: Griffin.
Goals: Vukic 48, Taylor 59, 67, Silva 74.
Att: 34,926
Ref: M Halsey (Lancashire).
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