Pompey hold toothless Toon

Newcastle United picked up a point in the goalless draw with Portsmouth, but doubts remain whether they can stay up.

Shearer's search for first win continues after dismal draw

Newcastle picked up a point in the goalless draw with Portsmouth, but doubts remain whether they can stay up after Monday's lacklustre result. It was a night of few chances at St James' Park, where optimism was sky-high prior to kick-off - but it was not met with a survival-inspiring performance. Interim Toon boss Alan Shearer went for a three-pronged attack with Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka and Michael Owen starting up front, and the striking trio squandered all of Newcastle's best chances with Owen missing the best of the lot. Pompey looked comfortable for long periods and finished the match the better with Peter Crouch missing a one-on-one while Richard Hughes hit the post late on with a header. Shearer had set his side the task of winning their remaining three home games to drag themselves out of relegation trouble but, having fallen at the first hurdle, they now face the daunting prospect of having to get something at Liverpool on Sunday. The 38-year-old stand-in manager had appealed in advance for passionate support from the stands and he got just that, with the help of a rousing rendition of Blaydon Races from opera star Graeme Danby moments before kick-off.

Response

But what he needed most was a response from his players and he got that too. Newcastle took the game to Pompey from the off and, what they lacked in guile and craft in the middle of the park, they made up for in effort and commitment. With Pompey fielding Crouch as a lone striker and, at times, getting all 11 men behind the ball, the Magpies had to remain patient however. Alan Smith had optimistic appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Mike Riley when his driven 30th-minute shot was blocked by Hermann Hreidarsson's arm and the former Manchester United midfielder fired just over five minutes later. In the meantime, Viduka only just failed to turn a low drive from substitute Danny Guthrie, on for injured full-back Jose Enrique, past James. But Newcastle's best two chances of the half came inside the final seven minutes, James making a fine save to push Duff's goal-bound effort around the post, while Martins saw a close-range shot deflected over the bar with seconds remaining. Pompey created little as they attempted to hit their hosts on the counter-attack, although Harper had to tip a 33rd-minute curler from Sean Davis over the bar.

Glorious chance

Viduka was presented with a glorious chance to open the scoring within seconds of the restart after Owen cleverly back-heeled Martins' pass into his path. However, the Australian could only stab his effort straight at James as the blue shirts closed on him. Fabricio Coloccini endured a heart-stopping moment when Crouch went to ground inside the box under his 50th-minute challenge but, again, Riley was in no mood to award a spot-kick. James was alert enough to prevent Martins from reaching a long ball four minutes later, if only just, but, as the game became increasingly stretched, play switched rapidly from end to end. The Pompey keeper almost handed Newcastle a glorious chance on a plate when he dropped Duff's cross with Viduka and Owen close at hand, although he redeemed himself with 63 minutes gone. Viduka managed to squeeze the ball through the Portsmouth defence, despite having been wrestled to the ground, to leave Owen with just the keeper to beat, but James blocked with his legs to leave Shearer with his head in his hands. The manager introduced Andy Carroll and Jonas Gutierrez for Viduka and Nicky Butt in a desperate attempt to find a winner but it was Nadir Belhadj who forced a fine fingertip save from Harper after a lightning 73rd-minute break. Carroll looped a 77th-minute header high over but it was Pompey who staged the grandstand finish that might have resulted in victory had Crouch been able to beat Harper or had Hughes' header landed six inches to the right.

Newcastle United	Team Statistics	Portsmouth
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	3
5	Shots off Target	9
5	Blocked Shots	5
7	Corners	10
14	Fouls	10
1	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
79.4	Passing Success	75.3
18	Tackles	25
61.1	Tackles Success	72
51.7	Possession	48.3
47.6	Territorial Advantage	52.4