Jose Reina's first-half penalty save helped Liverpool secure a goalless draw against Portsmouth
Kanu misses penalty in 0-0 draw
Jose Reina's first-half penalty save helped Liverpool secure a goalless draw against Portsmouth.
The Spaniard again showed his prowess in saving penalties by saving Kanu's first-half effort on the half-hour mark.
Portsmouth were awarded the penalty after Alvaro Arbeloa was adjudged to have tugged Kanu's shirt inside the box, but the Nigerian saw his effort superbly saved by Reina.
Chances were few and far between with both defences on top as Liverpool maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
With only three minutes on the clock, Pompey keeper David James had to be alert to go down and turn away a fierce shot by Yossi Benayoun for a corner.
At the other end, Pompey's giant debutant Papa Bouba Diop was head and shoulders above all challengers to meet Sean Davis's free-kick with his head but could not direct his effort on target.
Fine save
But it needed another fine save by James to keep out Liverpool seven minutes later when Mohamed Sissoko's pass put Peter Crouch in for an angled shot which the keeper stopped with a strong left wrist.
Pompey were relieved when Xabi Alonso's free-kick from 25 yards crashed into their defensive wall after Mali midfielder Sissoko went down too easily from a tangle with Sulley Muntari but Liverpool looked full of scoring options in the first 25 minutes.
Yet it was Pompey who almost broke the deadlock when Benjani's powerful low drive caught a deflection off Arbeloa which took it out for a corner.
And it was Arbeloa who was judged by referee Mike Riley to have tugged Kanu's shirt just inside the area as they jockeyed for possession and the Spaniard was, of course, the most grateful to his compatriot Reina - who saved twice in a crucial shoot-out against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League last season - for a spectacular plunge that kept out Kanu's spot-kick.
Major escapes
Liverpool might have been expected to push on from there and take the game by the scruff of the neck but they failed to make another worthwhile chance before the break and after Crouch brilliantly back-heeled a Steve Finnan pass just over James's bar, they had a couple of major escapes.
First, £7million man John Utaka, with all the goal to aim at after Diop forced the ball through, slashed his effort wide with only Reina to beat in the 52nd minute.
Then the goal was gaping again when the energetic Muntari hooked Kanu's lay-back off target.
In between, Andrei Voronin's half-volley clipped the bar when Pompey were caught napping at the back but even the arrival of Fernando Torres and midweek England hero Steven Gerrard from the bench for the last half-hour failed to do the trick.
That was despite Gerrard robbing a dithering Diop to send the Spaniard sprinting in to shoot high and wide.
The pace was unrelenting and just before the end, Voronin was inches away from converting a Torres cross but defeat for battling Pompey would have been a sad injustice.
| Portsmouth |
Team Statistics |
Liverpool |
| 0 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
4 |
| 7 |
Shots off Target |
6 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
4 |
| 5 |
Corners |
4 |
| 20 |
Fouls |
15 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 67.2 |
Passing Success |
70.4 |
| 29 |
Tackles |
20 |
| 65.5 |
Tackles Success |
70 |
| 47.4 |
Possession |
52.6 |
| 51.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
48.5 |
|
