Manchester United made sure it was third time unlucky for Portsmouth, who were looking for a hat-trick of home Premiership wins against the Reds, by giving them a master class in first-half finishing.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored two fine goals after Ruud van Nistelrooy headed in the rebound from Ryan Giggs' shot as memories of previous 1-0 and 2-0 defeats at Fratton Park were dismissed by the high-flyers.
Pompey showed that they will not go down without a fight with a belligerent effort in the second half and deservedly pulled back a goal three minutes from time when substitute Wayne Routledge's cross was headed in by Matt Taylor.
They could have shocked United again with further goals after the visitors had stepped off the gas but the home side failed to find the net.
For 18 minutes, before United scored their first Premiership goal at Fratton Park, and for brief moments afterwards, Pompey looked like they might have the ambition and drive to register their third consecutive home win over Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Stunning
But by half-time three stunning finishes had killed all that - and left Portsmouth's relegation fears even sharper in focus, and United's title hopes just a tiny bit more realistic.
Chelsea must have felt just as numbed by a shock 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough as Pompey's new goalkeeper Dean Kiely did after United's thunderous drives.
The first of them came from Giggs after a wonderful run and an exchange of passes with Van Nistelrooy.
The ball hit the underside of the bar after the Welsh ace had rounded Kiely, leaving himself with a difficult angle, and the Dutchman headed in the rebound.
Then Portuguese star Ronaldo took over. When Ji-Sung Park made a brave downward header in the 37th minute, Ronaldo let fly with a 25-yard shot that rose late over the goalkeeper's head.
Clinical
When Wayne Rooney set him up in first-half injury time, Ronaldo was again clinical with his finishing which had the benefit of a deflection to help it home.
Before United's opening goal Portsmouth striker Benjani Mwaruwari was denied by a fine defensive header from Wes Brown and then blasted an inviting opportunity over.
Lomana LuaLua raced down the left, cut inside Brown's challenge and fired across Edwin van der Sar and narrowly wide of the far post.
But Ronaldo's two strikes just before the interval took any real sting out of the game.
Pompey boss Harry Redknapp took off midfield playmaker Andres D'Alessandro - who had been constantly giving the ball away - at the break and Sean Davis shortly afterwards, looking for more width.
Changes
United had a new goalkeeper for the second half, Tim Howard taking over from van der Sar who had suffered a groin strain in the first period.
And they withstood Pompey's frantic attempts to keep the game competitive with some disciplined defending.
Mwaruwari bicycle-kicked over, LuaLua was just off target and Routledge fired not far wide in a gallant finale.
But United could have doubled their tally as Van Nistelrooy lost control with only Kiely to beat from Rooney's pass and the England striker then tried to lob the `keeper when a simple drive would have sufficed.
Howard's save denied the ever-willing LuaLua, playing just a few days after hearing of his baby son's death and returning from the African Nations Cup, and kept out a long-range shot by Pedro Mendes 10 minutes from the end.
When Taylor netted a header from Routledge's returned cross there was suddenly late hope and Mwaruwari headed straight at the `keeper.
Have your say on the win
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Sorry guys but Howard has to go and so should the scout who spotted him. He cannot kick a ball to save his life and reminds me of Grobbelar in the fact that the defence do not know what he is going to do next. Rooners looks like he needs a rest, but Ronaldo looks like he's using Duracell batteries. What a strike!! (Has Sir Bobby been do ing shooting coaching to lad? Before he used to drag his shots badly. Well done guys thrilling attacking play. Keep it up!!
great first half. 3 shots on target and 3 cracking goals. when howard replaced VDS for the second half, the defense lost its disciple a little bit and they had a few key stone kops moments. i thought the pompey crowd acted disgracefully in the first half, booing ronaldo's every touch for no reason, so i was happy for him when he got his brace. He'll probably score the goal that sends them down in the last game now.... teams like pompey don't deserve to play in the top flight if their fans can't appreciate the best players when they come to visit their ground. well done united. nice to see ronaldo back in the goals again.
Howard can't kick a ball? That's laughable... he has good feet. I'm amazed at the double standards by which Howard and Van Der Sar are compared. Had Howard made some of the recent mistakes of VDS, then you would have been calling for his head. Tim did look shaky as far as decision-making was concerned, but htat is to be expected as he's not seen any first team action in some time.
good win and let's hope we can keep up the form. nice to see howard get a run out and made some good saves to keep them in the game. thought vidic looked very comfortable and the partnership with rio looks good for the future. with heinze back next year, the defense should finally be solid. a tremendous strike by ronaldo and he was unlucky not to get his 3rd. let's push on through to collect the fa cup and league cup.
Very good performance put up by MU in the first half of the match. Why put the brake pedal on the second half? Reversed roles are played by Rooney and Ronaldo. As Ronaldo form is becoming more awesome in every match, Rooney was surprising became an ordinary player. His last goal was 11 matches ago. Maybe his mind was occupied on writing the 5 books or saving it for the World Cup. What is going on with MU forward? They cana?<sup>TM</sup>t stop scoring. We cana?<sup>TM</sup>t say the same thing about MU defenses. Looks vulnerable as soon as VDS was replace Howard. SAF must look for a better cover for VDS as Howard looks rusty. Howard must learn to communicate better with the other Mu players. Right now the best type of defense is to attack. Bring on Liverpool come next Saturday
Nobody who is a true Utd fan could be happy with that awfull display in the second half we were lucky they did'nt draw with us.
Ronaldo must have listened to Cantona!
The Reds were good but not impressive.
Seemed disorganized at times after substitutions. But no grousing--Sir Alex is right: more time is need. I believe we can soundly beat Liverpool, but not if we play 90 minuted like we did at Fratton Park.
K Davidson, I don't think you can analyze a game. Portsmouth created chances in the second half not because of Tim in goal, but because with Smith and Fletch in midfield, we do not attack. They both play sideways and backwards. With this, Portsmouth and any crap team will get the opportunity to attack, especially when they have a player with fantastic ball skills and determination as LuaLua displayed.
I"ll be happy if Howard wins as many trophies as Grobbelar!!!!!
its great to see ronaldo scoring goals and enjoying his football. giggsy did fanstaic work for ruuds goal. it was a shame that luis saha was left on the bench and that his replacement rooney could score.
Magnificent first half! Can anyone tell me why Giggs went out out at half-time. I thought he was briliant and clever as usual. Maybe SAF had Liverpool in mind?
The defence lost its disciple!?! VDS is a disciple? Which one?
JI PARK...WHAT WAS HE DOING ON THE PITCH !!!! THE LAD CANT STAY UP ON HIS FEET.
It would be nice if some reds actually visited other grounds,Pourtsmouth(or the gary Linikear daft trio) is nearer to France than Mancheter and that attitude is reflected by there supporters.
Howard played very well and made some good saves,Sar has made a few wobbles lately when I saw the team.I was not surprised to see Alex and his number two had changed a very good winning team.
Once again we have to see Fletcher who would not even make the bench for Bury and Sylvester in action.Saha who has played well on the bench Richardson Rossi Pique all these lads are better than those two even when blindfolded.Fergie is lucky to have such players of quality who can get him out of trouble so often even with his ridiculas team selection.What a good manager could do for UNITED Aldo Duscher has already signed a pre contract for United and will be good company for Hienze.Also the other Argentinian hard as nails Estan Cambiasso could come from Milan even though they got him for free,they want 5 million plus Sylvester I would throw in Fletcher and O,shea and that would be a good deal,Players will have to leave so thats one way to get rid of them.Nice move by Giggs for the first Goal Ronaldo,s got his shooting boots and Chelsea are getting the wobbles, hope this has nothing to do with the tabloids news headlines on certain players none football activities.
if only we could finish off in games we have either lost or drawn... only 4 shots on target all game.. we were like a great white shark toying with a seal cub... the y had 3x more attempts on goal.. its sad really.
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that match made me keep my mouth open for a minute.
what a game, saw ronaldo rocking down his feet with the two goals.
well i always knew man utd were winning from pompey after losing the last two
this match was too good.
hats off to RON (ron goes for ronaldo not rooney) LOL
A solid and efficient performance, and good to see Ronaldo making a real contribution. I did get the jitters when Howard came on though.
the trend around red devils is increasingly becoming a attack some get some and then let some . agreed our attack is great but the defence again was exposed to its shoodiness in the second half . OUR FINISHING covered up for anything we lacked . also why we were so laidback and didn't try to score and following which portsmouth came back and even scored a goal which has become a rare species for them . after the goal was scored then they came back from their slumber . common manu we have to win a lot this season .........
VDS let in two very easy goals against fulham last week
Another good result and lets be honest the team never had to get into top gear,I hope the rumour on another united site about diarra being the player we are going for in the summer isn`t true i`ve said on here a couple of times that iv`e seen him play in the french league and he never really ventures out of his own half which any match going red will hate like when ray ``the crab`` wilkins was here and he got booed alot for the same reason. So please those who keep begging for us to get him give it a rest he`s not now or will he ever be a player in the united tradition of cavallier football we need a player like Robson,moses,ince,keane,charlton,crerand all of these players were as good at tackling and defending as they were at driving forward which is what we are lacking,And please would people stop saying roy keane was a defensive midfielder because apart from the couple of years messing around with the 4=5=1 system, He was one of the most dynamic box to box players your ever likely to see, And while i know players like these don`t grow on trees i would much rather wait and find the right player for our clubs style of play.
Great game esp in the first half ..the scoreline could have been wider had we taken our chances ..anyway
good display from the team esp Giggs(1st half), park , Ronaldo(5 star) , vidiic..super goals from rudd+ronaldo ..great work..but on the worrying side we seem to have lost concerntration in d 2nd half..too contented maybe and our 'cm' is not clicking it needs to be sorted asap..
p/s : how come there arent that many ppl writing in? is it becos we won cos whenever d team loses the agony and moaning seems endless..
up d REDS..Now lets be the scouser this weekend 2-0;)
rooney needs dropping, let him know that this is man united and not england. HE IS NOT AUTOMATIC FIRST CHOICE. how the heck did saha get dropped???!?!?!?!!!! rooney has played poorly for about 10 games now and needs a reality check. oh by the way good work ronny, this guy will b the worlds best in 2 years time, mark my words.
A great result without us actually playing brilliant in a whole, that said i thought the back four did well and vidic looks like he will be a rock for us allthough howards jitters did transfer itself to the back four as the second half went on (a somewhat damning performance by howard who made two good saves but decision making, kicking and punching was very poor). Giggs looked lively in the middle of the park, Rvn played well up top dropping and linking a lot more play than normall while ronaldo was excellent and looks like he may have re-discovered his form after a frustrating season (his first goal was fantastic) however i thought park, fletcher, rooney and smith in the second half were all pretty poor. Imagine what we could do with a decent central midfield, i saw us being linked with duscher and Cambiasso yesterday i hope this isn't true i think we would be better of with carrick and nolan than them two.
Its incredible how people easily forget. Up to a couple of games ago many were calling for Ronaldo's head while singing the praises for Rooney. Now its Rooney's turn to get the stick. OK, he did have one of the worst games for United , but he did not become a bad player overnight and should not be dropped. Both Ronaldo and Rooney on their day are unstoppable.
As for Vidic, he was not that bad in the previous games as some section of the press suggested. Against Pompey he had his best performance and should soon become the best defender at OT.
Howard played very well too even better than VDS but he does not transmit confidence in the defence that confidence as VDS does.
Get off Rooney's case. There's far more to his game than just putting the ball in the net (unlike RVN). I believe he's leading the league in assists and his all round effort and commitment are unquestioned. Looks like he's settling into Paul Scholes old role of just behind the front men...we didn't have complaints about him at the top of his game did we? Rooney's a terrifc player who will only get better.