Portsmouth 2-0 Liverpool

Ten-man Liverpool's season of woe continued as they were beaten by bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth.

Nadir Belhadj screamed in a shot from an impossible angle to put Pompey ahead after poor defending from the Reds.

The visitors had Javier Mascherano red carded for a nasty tackle on Tal Ben-Haim before an unmarked Daniel Agger headed high for Liverpool.

Tireless striker Frederic Piquionne's volley from a tight angle sealed the home side's victory.

Pompey boss Avram Grant had engineered a Champions League semi-final win over Liverpool in April 2008 during his time as Chelsea boss.

He was at it again for a Pompey side battling survival as his earned a victory over Liverpool.

Grant sent his team out with the task of frustrating and pressuring Liverpool and his Pompey players, as has been the case for them recently, were not lacking in effort and application right from the start.

Liverpool had plenty of possession but struggled to find a way through Pompey's disciplined 4-5-1 formation.

Reds forward Dirk Kuyt did get an early sight of goal after Steven Gerrard had nodded on a Fernando Torres cross only for his first touch to escape him along with the chance to get in a close range shot.

Torres sent a shot over as he tried to bend one into the top corner and, although the home side were passionately and purposefully keeping Liverpool at bay, they were lacking a threat in attack.

However, that all changed as a combination of a well-worked move, unconvincing defending from the Reds and a stunning strike put them ahead.

Liverpool's defence failed to deal with a low Hassan Yebda cross and Kevin Prince-Boateng powered in a shot which keeper Pepe Reina did well to block.

Glen Johnson could only find Belhadj with his tame headed clearance and Reina could do little to stop a thunderous strike from the Algerian which was with his weaker right foot and from the acutest of angles.

The visitors should have equalised when Agger had a free header from a Gerrard free-kick only to put his effort high from six yards.

As if Liverpool did not have enough problems, the scale of their task increased when Mascherano was red carded.

The Argentine went in hard and with his studs showing in a tackle on Ben-Haim and, despite needing treatment as he himself came off worst, Mascherano was dismissed.

Pompey looked the more likely to score, with Jamie Carragher - making his 600th Liverpool appearance - having to produce a lunging tackle to block a Piquionne strike.

When Liverpool belatedly threatened, Pompey keeper Aasmir Begovic pulled off a great save to claw away a Gerrard shot which took two deflections.

Boateng laid a cross on a plate for Piquionne to nod in and secure victory and, even though he horribly mistimed his effort, the Frenchman atoned when he drove in a late volley.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the views or position of Liverpool Football Club.