English FA Premiership/ Middlesbrough 0 Portsmouth 4: Portsmouth brought Middlesbrough back down to earth at the Riverside Stadium last night. Five days after the Teessiders had humbled Chelsea, Boro were torn apart by African strike force Kanu and Benjani Mwaruwari.
Kanu fired the visitors into a seventh-minute lead and killed the game off 12 minutes after the break after running from his own half to score. In the meantime, Mwaruwari had added a 50th-minute second with a far-post header, and substitute Svetoslav Todorov rubbed salt into the wounds with a fourth in injury time.
Just as they did against Jose Mourinho's side, Boro found themselves trailing to an early goal, and this time it came anything but against the run of play. Portsmouth took the lead from a corner. Mwaruwari was allowed to help David Thompson's cross back across goal, where Kanu thumped it past Mark Schwarzer as the visitors were good value for their half-time lead.
In the 50th minute Boro were still trying to organise for a defensive corner when the ball was played short to Thompson, who lifted a cross to the far post where Mwaruwari headed home and in the 57th minute Kanu lifted a shot over the advancing Schwarzer.
Boro's Lee Cattermole tested David James with a 68th-minute drive and Mark Viduka was more wayward from similar range two minutes later. Todorov completed the rout in injury time when he lifted a Sean Davis pass over Schwarzer.
Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Parnaby, Riggott, Pogatetz, Taylor, Mendieta (Rochemback 70), Cattermole (Morrison 70), Boateng, Downing, Viduka (Christie 70), Yakubu. Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Davies. Booked: Parnaby, Downing.
Portsmouth: James, Pamarot, Primus, Campbell, Stefanovic, O'Neil, Davis, Thompson (Koroman 73), Taylor (Hughes 86), Kanu (Todorov 83), Mwaruwari. Subs Not Used: Jordan, O'Brien. Booked: Todorov. Goals: Kanu 7, Mwaruwari 50, Kanu 57, Todorov 90.
Referee: C Foy (Merseyside).
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