Portsmouth in Europe: Diarra and Defoe Do Their Duty

Portsmouth Football Club began their first ever European campaign yesterday evening with a 2-0 win against Portugeuse club Vitoria Guimaraes at Fratton Park.

Goals from midfielder Lassana Diarra and on-fire striker Jermaine Defoe were enough to see off a feisty Guimaraes side and hand Portsmouth a significant advantage before their October 2nd rematch.

The game could have developed very differently, however, had the Portugeuse side managed to claw back a much-needed away goal; this wasn't to be, however, as both sides were awarded penalties that failed to be dispatched successfully.

The real story of the tie for Portsmouth supporters has been the performances put in by certain Portsmouth players. Jermain Defoe continues to prove to the entire world what Pompey fans have been saying for years since the first rumblings of the possibility of signing him, Lassana Diarra is proving to be quite possibly the greatest midfielder to ever wear the colours of Portsmouth FC, Armand Traore is proving all of my predictions regarding his pace and skill correct, and Nadir Belhadj has proven to be an incredible surprise package, offering everything our team has been missing the past two seasons.

Jermain Defoe now has another four goals in four matches, having now scored a total of 11 goals in 16 games since moving from Tottenham Hotspur, and wouldn't appear to be slowing down. Defoe has been absolutely predatory, and his quality, coupled with the incredible service he has been getting from the rest of the team, will only mean that more goals will come.

I will readily admit that I had significant concerns following the injury to Niko Kranjcar about just how creative Portsmouth would be without the Croatian playmaker. Harry Redknapp's return to the 3-5-2 system of our Division 1 promotion year, combined with some talented new players has, however, covered that problem easily.

Glen Johnson has taken his incredible form from last season into this, showing his great pace throughout the match with Guimaraes. The pace and aggression of Armand Traore on the left side has also been wonderful to have, and his link-up play with Belhadj has been truly masterful.

When it was announced that we had signed Belhadj on deadline day, I wasn't sure what to make of him. After having seen him in his brilliant cameo against Middlesbrough and yesterday against Guimaraes, however, I can understand why he is already earning a place in the hearts of all Pompey supporters; while it is early, Belhadj seems to have all of the pace of Traore while also having the tempered skill to be a constant threat to opposition teams.

Anyone who saw the inch-perfect cross in the game against Guimaraes saw the perfect example of that skill; Belhadj was truly the crafter of the goal.

Most importantly, however, is the only player deserving of more praise than Defoe and Belhadj thus far.

Lassana Diarra.

Diarra has been nothing short of brilliant in our past few games, and his goal yesterday was no more than the midfield maestro deserved for the extraordinary performances he has been putting in. While Jermain Defoe has been making all of the headlines for his goal-scoring exploits this season (including from a number of the writers on this very site), anyone who has watched Portsmouth's game can do no more than fall over themselves at the shear quality demonstrated by Diarra.

The game against Middlesbrough was the perfect model of that quality, as Diarra pushed the entire team to that outstanding comeback by leading by example.

Overall, the season is beginning to shape up well for Portsmouth FC and its supporters; it will be interesting to see how we face up against the new-look Manchester City this weekend.