SUNDERLAND suffered a club record-equalling 10th away defeat on the spin as they flopped at Fratton Park. Jermain Defoe’s penalty 20 minutes from time handed Portsmouth a rare home win . . . and condemned Sunderland to an all too familiar away defeat. Roy Keane accused his players of being overawed by Pompey and of turning up with their autograph books at the ready. He meant that they showed too much respect to their hosts, but that was perhaps a little harsh. But Keane’s remark that veteran Pompey keeper David James had enjoyed probably the easiest game of his career hit the nail on the head. Before kick-off, James was presented with a silver salver to mark his 500th Premier League appearance and Sunderland then proceeded to present him with a clean sheet on a plate. James was a doubt ahead of the game with a stomach virus, but there was never any danger of Sunderland causing him any upset. He might as well have rung in sick and had the day off, too, because the Black Cats, playing with Kenwyne Jones as their only out-and-out striker, didn’t muster a single shot on target all match. So there was precious little for Sunderland’s magnificent 3000 travelling fans to cheer. Sunderland’s wait for their first away win of the season goes on. But at least next weekend’s trip to basement side Derby offers them their best chance yet of curing their travel sickness . . . although an 11th straight defeat would mark a new low. Keane made two changes to the side that beat Wigan a fortnight ago. Grant Leadbitter, who made his comeback from a broken toe as a sub against the Latics, started at Fratton Park in place of Roy O’Donovan. And Andy Reid, who made an explosive impact as a sub on his debut against Wigan and set up Sunderland’s second goal with virtually his first touch, started in place of Michael Chopra. Reid was in the thick of the action once again with less than a minute on the clock. His dangerous free kick was just a fraction too high for the unmarked Dickson Etuhu when the Nigerian midfielder looked odds-on to head Sunderland into an early lead. But after that promising start, it was all downhill as far as Sunderland as an attacking force were concerned. They created virtually nothing. In contrast, after a poor start, Pompey got stronger as the first half wore on and Hermann Hreidarsson and Pape Bouba Diop both went close with headers, but without testing Craig Gordon. The bored fans had to wait until the 51st minute for the game’s first shot on target and even then it was a fairly comfortable stop by Gordon from a Defoe shot following good work by Milan Baros down the right flank. A couple of minutes later, Grant Leadbitter whistled a free kick a couple of yards wide of the right-hand post, but that was the closest the Black Cats came to a goal. It was a rare moment of even semi-danger for the home side. At the other end, Gordon dealt easily with efforts from Defoe and Glen Johnson. Pompey were no great shakes in the final third themselves and they needed the help of referee Phil Dowd to break the deadlock. In the 69th minute, Mr Dowd pointed to the spot for what looked like a soft penalty, awarded for the slightest contact between Phil Bardsley and Niko Kranjcar. Croatian midfielder Kranjcar took on Reid and Bardsley inside the area down the left. Kranjcar beat Reid, pushed the ball past Bardsley and then threw himself over the defender’s outstretched leg. It looked theatrical, to say the least, but it was enough to convince Mr Dowd. Defoe, who arrived on the South Coast from Spurs in the January transfer window, stepped up to convert and from then on Pompey were in cruise control. Keane made changes, sending on Dwight Yorke, Rade Prica and Michael Chopra, but Sunderland never looked likely to get back in it. Pompey could have added to their score, with Gordon saving from Defoe in the final 10 minutes and then the little striker saw his last-gasp goal-bound effort deflected just over the bar. This defeat took Sunderland’s losing streak on their travels into double figures . . . an unwanted landmark they have reached three times before, most recently in their relegation campaign of 2003. | 
