CARLISLE 1, PORTSMOUTH 3

AFTER six straight defeats in the Premier League, the last thing Portsmouth would have wanted was to fall behind after two minutes to Carlisle United.

The Cumbrians were quickly on the offensive in the Carling Cup tie and were awarded a penalty when Aaron Mokoena fouled Richard Offiong. The South African hard-man escaped a red card but Ian Harte dished out his punishment from the spot to heap the pressure on poor Paul Hart.

Pompey's response was professional and belied their lack of confidence so it was little surprise when they drew level on 26 minutes. Aruna Dindane scored on debut with a simple finish after John Utaka had knocked the ball past Lenny Pidgeley.

Utaka was a constant threat but it was Danny Webber who notched the second Portsmouth goal, flicking home Hassan Yebda's centre to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

The chances came thick and fast for Pompey before the interval but Dindane and Webber were unable to add to their tally and, instead, Carlisle carved out their own openings in the second half through Peter Murphy and Joe Anyinsah.

The match was over as a contest, however, when Dindane teed up Anthony Vanden Borre who thumped past Pidgeley for 3-1 and substitute Frederic Piquionne really should have added a fourth late on.

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