Reading 0
Sonko s/o 3
Portsmouth 2
Campbell 9 Utaka 66
Reading 0 Portsmouth 2 January 01 2008
Sol Campbell and John Utaka scored in each half as away-day specialists Portsmouth comfortably beat 10-man Reading 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium.
The game started disasterously for the hosts when Ibrahima Sonko gave away a penalty and was red carded for pulling Benjani back in the area after just three minutes. But Niko Kranjcar smacked his penalty against the post.
Bobby Convey then sliced wide for the Royals, but Pompey took a ninth-minute lead when Marcus Hahnemann made a mess of Sulley Muntari's free-kick and Campbell bundled over the line.
David James did well to save from Kevin Doyle, while Benjani's header hit the bar just before the break.
Harry Redknapp's side doubled their lead on 66 minutes when Glen Johnson lifted the ball over the top and Utaka outpaced Nicky Shorey, before taking the ball around Hahnemann and tapping into an unguarded net.