Stoke City 1 - 0 Portsmouth

Fuller ends drought

Updated: November 22, 2009, 8:10 AM UK

Striker Ricardo Fuller applied a clinical finish to a neat passing move to give Stoke a 1-0 victory at home to Portsmouth.

• Fuller relief as drought ends

The Jamaican's turn and shot in the 74th minute came after a swift interchange of passes between Matthew Etherington and Dean Whitehead.

Pompey, who lost England goalkeeper David James to injury in the warm up, had earlier missed an eighth-minute penalty from Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Fuller's strike secured a fourth win in seven matches at the Britannia Stadium - and their first in four games - and also condemned Portsmouth to a 10th defeat of the season.

It could have been so different had Boateng shown more composure from the penalty spot.

Aruna Dindane was caught in the head by Rory Delap's boot as he went for a high, bouncing ball but Boateng's penalty was weak and too close to Thomas Sorensen's, who saved easily to his left.

Stoke's first effort came from Fuller in the 13th minute when he controlled Salif Diao's looping header, turned and volleyed wide of the right-hand post of Jamie Ashdown, James' late replacement.

Etherington was next to go close after volleying Younes Kaboul's weak header from Delap's long throw.

Michael Brown's foul on Fuller earned the Pompey midfielder a booking and Stoke a 25-yard free-kick just left of centre, but James Beattie's low drive went around the wall and straight into the arms of Ashdown.

After a slow start Stoke had clawed their way into the ascendancy but Etherington, having switched back to his usual left-wing position, delayed his cross too long with players waiting in the middle and was eventually closed out.

Whitehead was booked just before half-time after diving in for the ball but missing and bringing down Dindane.

Two minutes after the restart Ryan Shawcross, captain in the absence of the suspended Abdoulaye Faye, headed over from Delap's long throw.

Jamie O'Hara brought the best save of the game out of Sorensen in the 52nd minute when his 35-yard drive was tipped around the post at full stretch.

Fuller's low shot, after Whitehead had launched a counter-attack from his own penalty area, was deflected over his own crossbar by Kaboul, with Robert Huth heading the resulting corner wide.

Delap's throw then picked out Fuller at the far post but his half-hit six-yard shot was collected by Ashdown.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis had seen enough and within 12 minutes of the restart he made a double change, bringing on Liam Lawrence and Mamady Sidibe for Diao and Beattie.

Portsmouth's best chance since the penalty fell to Dindane in the 64th minute but he hooked a left-foot volley wide with only the keeper to beat from 12 yards.

The on-loan Ivory Coast international was replaced by Frederic Piquionne soon after only for Stoke to take the lead within seconds with a goal which belied their long-ball reputation.

Etherington cut in from the left and exchanged passes with Whitehead before playing the ball up to Fuller, who turned on the edge of the area to curl a shot past Ashdown and into the far corner.

Stoke are renowned strong finishers and Sidibe should have made it 2-0 moments later after Fuller and Lawrence had combined in a quick counter-attack down the right, but he skewed his shot wide of the far post.

Wilkinson's storming run from his own half almost produced the second only for him to shoot over, but one goal was enough to clinch a tight encounter.

Fuller relief as drought ends

Ricardo Fuller's first Premier League goal of the season thrust Stoke into the top half of the table and kept Portsmouth rooted to the bottom.

''I needed that goal to get my season started in terms of scoring,'' said Fuller. ''As a striker you get marked on scoring goals. It was a good plus for me and for the team as well. I did what I needed to do, turned nicely and put the ball past the keeper and into the back of the net.''

Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen kept out Boateng's spot-kick to preserve parity in an otherwise dull first 45 minutes.

''I have got statistics on penalties and have my theories about it but I am not going to share them,'' said Sorensen. ''I was delighted with it and it came at a crucial time for us at 0-0.''

The blustery conditions restricted the match as a spectacle and Sorensen admitted: ''It was very difficult. It was very windy but with this man (Fuller) up front it just takes one moment of brilliance. That's what we needed on the day. We can't say that we played well but we got the win.''

Portsmouth have now lost 10 of their 13 league matches this season. But Pompey manager Paul Hart attempted to put a brave face following the latest reverse.

''At the moment I feel very hard done by,'' Hart told Sky Sports. ''Then again we had a penalty and you would expect to score it. I don't think our goalie has had a shot to save, so we have to say we should have come out with something. I couldn't see Stoke scoring. I was comfortable.

''The defenders were excellent, the midfielders were superb. We could have perhaps created a bit more in the last third, around the box, but I thought we were in control. It is very hard to be critical of my players because through thick and thin they have tried to win football matches.''