Portsmouth woe for Reds

Avram Grant earned his second win as Portsmouth manager with 2-0 victory at Fratton Park over Liverpool, who played more than half the match with ten men after Javier Mascherano was sent off.

Despite Liverpool dominating the first half hour of the game, it was the home team who took the lead on 33 minutes. A shot by Kevin-Prince Boateng was parried by Pepe Reina and Glen Johnson's poor defensive header went straight to Nadir Belhadj, who, despite being in an offside position for Boateng's shot, was allowed to fire home the ball from a narrow angle with a fierce shot.

Things got worse for Rafael Benitez's side ten minutes later when Mascherano was sent for a high challenge on Tal Ben-Haim. The Argentina midfield player will be suspended for four matches because it was his second red card of the season but he may be out for longer with a knee injury sustained in the challenge.

Liverpool continued to threaten in the second half and almost equalised when a shot from Steven Gerrard was acrobatically saved by Asmir Begovic after a couple of deflections.

Fernando Torres started the game for Liverpool but the Spain forward cut a frustrated a figure and went close to being sent off himself after a needless booking. Frederic Piquionne sealed the match for Portsmouth with another beautiful strike from a narrow angle on 81 minutes after turning Jamie Carragher, whose 600th appearance for Liverpool was not one to remember.

The victory was not enough to lift Portsmouth from the foot of the table but they will go above West Ham United should the latter lose at home to Chelsea tomorrow afternoon.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.