Pompey fight back in Stoke draw

Portsmouth overcame two controversial decisions to earn a point in a 2-2 draw away to fellow Premier League strugglers Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium here Saturday.

All the goals came in the final 15 minutes with James Beattie, after Pompey’s Niko Kranjcar had opened the scoring, netting twice before City defender Ryan Shawcross put through his own net in the closing moments.

Portsmouth went ahead in the 75th minute when striker David Nugent set-up Croatia midfielder Kranjcar.

But three minutes later Stoke were level when a controversial penalty, awarded by referee Mike Jones for handball by Glen Johnson, was converted by Beattie.

Then, in the 80th minute the striker was on target again. Danny Pugh volleyed into the turf and to the back post where Beattie, who appeared to be in an offside position, headed in.

The visitors salvaged a point when Shawcross deflected Pompey defender Hermann Hreidarsson’s shot into his own net in the 90th minute.

The draw left Portsmouth five points above the drop zone and Stoke two points clear of the bottom three.