Diao´s hammer blow stuns Portsmouth

Stoke delivered a hammer blow to Portsmouth’s hopes of avoiding relegation as Salif Diao’s stoppage time strike gave City’s 10-men a 2-1 win at Fratton Park on Saturday.

Avram Grant’s beleaguered side had taken the lead in the first half through Frederic Piquionne, but Robert Huth equalised for Stoke soon after the interval.

Portsmouth appeared to have a golden chance to close the gap on their relegation rivals when Stoke defender Andy Wilkinson was sent off in the second half, but Senegal midfielder Diao left the hosts eight points from safety with his last-gasp goal.

Stoke made a typically muscular start and bombarded the Portsmouth penalty area with a stream of set-pieces. Ryan Shawcross smashed over the bar from Glenn Whelan’s free-kick, then Rory Delap’s long throw was flicked on by Huth for Whelan to shoot high and wide.

Stoke threatened again when Wilkinson lofted a long ball to Shawcross and he headed down Mamady Sidibe, only for the Mali striker to drive wide.

Portsmouth thought they had taken the lead when Piquionne raced on to Quincy Owusu-Abeyie’s through ball and shot home but the striker had been flagged offside.

Algeria defender Nadir Belhadj nearly gave Portsmouth the lead when his long-range shot just cleared the bar.

The hosts kept pressing and it was Piquionne who broke the deadlock in the 35th minute.

Owusu-Abeyie played a one-two with Jamie O’Hara on the edge of the Stoke area before firing in a powerful shot that Thomas Sorensen spilled to Piquionne and he tapped into the empty net.

But Piquionne was replaced by Nwankwo Kanu at the interval and Portsmouth lost some of their rhythm with his departure.

Stoke drew level five minutes after half-time when Whelan’s corner found Huth and the German defender out-jumped Pompey centre-back Marc Wilson and headed into the top corner.

Sidibe almost put Stoke ahead when Steve Finnan lost the ball in his own box but Wilson deflected his effort over the bar.

Pompey’s hopes of getting back into the lead were given a major boost after 73 minutes when Stoke had Wilkinson dismissed for a second yellow card.

Wilkinson had fouled Aruna Dindane in the 68th minute and a similar tackle on the Ivorian five minutes later saw referee Mike Dean show him a second yellow card in quick succession.

Portsmouth couldn’t make the most of their numerical advantage however and, in the first minute of stoppage time, Ricardo Fuller set up substitute Diao to net the winner.