Johnson sent off but 10-man Portsmouth earn a point

Portsmouth held on for a 0-0 draw at Hull on Saturday despite having England defender Glen Johnson sent off with 10 minutes to play.

Only four days ago Johnson was playing at right-back in England’s 4-0 World Cup qualifying win against Ukraine. But he came back down to earth with a bump at the KC Stadium after being shown a second yellow card for a clash with Dean Marney.

Portsmouth managed to see out the final minutes without Johnson and have now taken nine points in six games under new boss Paul Hart to move four points clear of the relegation zone.

Hull lacked any rhythm but the point was good enough to give Phil Brown’s team a five-point lead over third bottom Newcastle.

Portsmouth had the first attempt on goal but Peter Crouch’s acrobatic volley was nowhere near as accurate as the one he scored for England against Ukraine on Wednesday.

Hull’s Brazilian midfielder Geovanni let fly with a long-range effort that failed to trouble David James. Then Manucho, on loan from Manchester United, volleyed over from Bernard Mendy’s cross.

Johnson was lucky to escape a red card after two offences in little more than a minute.

He was booked for kicking out at Kamil Zayatte while he was on the ground after tangling with the Hull defender. Then moments later he felled Geovanni with a crude challenge but was only given a warning by referee Chris Foy.

After a spell on the back foot, Portsmouth missed a good chance to take the lead when Crouch nodded on a Niko Kranjcar corner and Younes Kaboul headed over from close range.

Portsmouth striker David Nugent headed over from a Crouch cross early in the second half.

Johnson almost played his side into trouble just after the hour when he headed back into his own area and Craig Fagan pounced but James brilliantly palmed away the forward’s powerful header.

Johnson was given his marching orders after 80 minutes following a collision with Hull substitute Marney, but this time he seemed to have been the aggrieved party.

Johnson was running across the edge of the Hull area when Marney challenged and appeared to catch the Portsmouth player in his attempt to clear.

Yet having previously warned Johnson and seeing Marney go down, Foy had no hesitation this time in taking out a second yellow card.

Despite being a man down, Portsmouth could have won it in stoppage time when Hermann Hreidarsson’s header hit a post.