Portsmouth Soccer News

LONDON (AP) _ Benjani Mwaruwari scored a hat trick on Saturday to lead Portsmouth to a 7-4 win over Reading in the highest scoring match in the Premier League's 15-year history. Arsenal won 1-0 at West Ham to keep the lead of the standings from defending champion Manchester United, which won 1-0 at Birmingham. At Fratton Park, Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann made a string of saves but was still beaten seven times. Mwaruwari scored twice to put Portsmouth ...

Manchester United beat Portsmouth 3-0 on Saturday to move three points clear atop the Premier League standings. Louis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nemanja Vidic scored at Old Trafford to delight Alex Ferguson as he prepares to celebrate his 20th anniversary as manager of the Red Devils on Monday. Defending champion Chelsea can move into a tie for first place by winning at Tottenham on Sunday. Man United is also eight points ahead of third-place Bolton, which lost 1-0 ...

Substitute Lomana LuaLua scored the game's lone goal to earn Portsmouth a 1-0 road win over Charlton on Saturday and top spot in the Premier League standings. Manager Harry Redknapp's team, which only just avoided relegation last season, moved ahead of Manchester United after a fourth victory in five games and is the only team yet to concede a goal. LuaLua had been in the game just 10 minutes at The Valley when he took a pass ...

Portsmouth signed Croatia midfielder Niko Kranjcar from Hajduk Split on Thursday ahead of Europe's transfer deadline. Portsmouth gave the 22-year-old a four-year contract and his lawyer Emil Zgur said the transfer was worth five million euros ($7.1 million Cdn). Zgur said Kranjcar would receive one million euros ($1.4 million Cdn) per season. Kranjcar rejected an offer from France's Rennes, worth about four million euros ($5.7 million Cdn), earlier this week. Kranjcar made his name at age 16, scoring a goal ...

Portsmouth signed veteran striker Andy Cole from Manchester City on Thursday for 500,000 pounds ($1.1 million Cdn). The 34-year-old former England international signed a two-year contract, City said. The fee could double if Cole plays a certain number of games. Cole joined City from Fulham in July 2005. He had signed an additional one-year contract deal for this season and was then offered another for the following season. ``It's an ...

LONDON (AP) _ Portsmouth moved into second place in the English Premier League after beating Middlesbrough 4-0 behind two goals from Kwankwo Kanu on Monday. The south coast club improved to seven points in three games, just two behind league-leading Manchester United. Kanu made it 1-0 in the seventh minute, and Benjani Mwaruwari doubled the lead in the 50th. Kanu got his second seven minutes later and Svetoslav Todorov scored ...

PORTSMOUTH, England (AP) _ Manchester City defender Ben Thatcher should be banned from soccer if he repeats the blow that left Pompey midfielder Pedro Mendes unconscious, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said Friday. Redknapp called the defender's challenge ``one of the worst incidents I've ever seen in the game,'' and called on the Football Association to kick him out of the sport ``if he does it again.'' Greater Manchester Police are ...

PORTSMOUTH, England (AP) _ Portsmouth signed Manchester City goalkeeper David James on Friday. The 1.2-million-pound ($2.6 million Cdn) transfer is dependent on James passing a medical. ``We can confirm that Manchester City have accepted our offer and that David James will be coming to the club for a medical and to discuss personal terms,'' Portsmouth spokesman Helen Wood said. The England backup goalkeeper, who has been offered a three-year contract, ...