Defoe shows his class - just like Harry knew he would

The Little and Large combination of Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch is showing signs of coming to fruition as Portsmouth comfortably over-powered an out-of-sorts Everton side.

Defoe struck twice, with a little help from his big pal, and Glen Johnson showed his attacking prowess with a coll finish.

Crouch thought he had opened his Pompey account, but although he headed the ball home it was Defoe who was awarded the goal for a shot that went over the line after clipping the underside of the bar.

It was Pompey's first win of the season after a difficult start against Cheslea and Manchester United, and manager Harry Redknapp was both relieved and delighted.

Boss Redknapp said: "I'd been waiting for Jermain Defoe to come good - him and Peter Crouch - and it was nice to see them link up together.

"Defoe scored a great goal. He's got that ability and he also worked very hard for the team as well. It was a great result for us.

"And David James is different class. That was a world-class save in the first half from Mikel Arteta to keep us 1-0 up and then to save the penalty from Yakubu as well - he's a fantastic goalkeeper."

James was outstanding throughout, producing brilliant saves to deny Arteta and also Yakubu from the spot. Plenty for David Moyes to contemplate then during the international break.

The Everton boss conceded: "We are not in condition to win Premier League matches. We have not got players in the right slots and senior players are not playing the way they should be. We've got a lot of young players in the side but it's not those players who are letting us down.

"I don't think we have played well in any game so far, although I thought we probably played better here than we did when we won at West Brom and lost at home to Blackburn.

"Portsmouth defended well and took their chances. We defended poorly and didn't take our chances."