George is Man of the Match at Pompey

Caretaker boss Joe Jordan must have feared the worst when Portsmouth Chairman Milan Mandaric asked him to take temporary charge following the sacking of unsuccessful manager Alain Perrin. The next fixture was against premiership champions Chelsea at Fratton Park.

He needn’t have worried. There was no rout. No humiliation. As it turned out, Portsmouth played rather well and as for Chelsea, they have certainly had better days. In fact, the most memorable moments were provided by those wonderful Portsmouth fans, whose spontaneous and tumultuous tribute to the genius of George Best shook this famous, faded old ground and brought their chairman to the very brink of tears.

Portsmouth began brightly enough and despite a great deal of possession, the game was fully 15 minutes old before Damien Duff, whose skills are primitive compared to Best, produced a first strike for the champions. Though but for a terrific save from Petr Cech, it would have been first blood to Portsmouth, as the mercurial Lomana LuaLua lashed in a shot of immense power from the edge of the box.

When the breakthrough came, it was (appropriately) the first indication of Chelsea’s superior class in the game, as Crespo darted in to deflect a long range shot from Paulo Ferreira which Jamie Ashdown clearly had covered.

It proved to be the only highlight. For the rest of the game, Portsmouth battled manfully and Chelsea were sufficiently mediocre to ensure that their opponents never felt outclassed or overawed. Disappointingly, the champions remain efficient, but lack flair. Essien, a man so powerful he seems almost as wide as he is tall, filled – indeed almost overflowed – the Makelele role. Lampard, who in cricket circles would be classified ‘military medium’, loped about, doing more than anyone to ensure that his side dominated possession. And a succession of Chelsea players plunged to the ground so spectacularly as to suggest the The Special One, noted for the efficiency of his preparations, might have added the services of a drama coach to his staff. It certainly made a big impression on referee Phil Dowd, who showed his appreciation by awarding a succession of free kicks, five yellow cards and a penalty against the home team.

George would have hated it.