Vialli gets better of his old mate as Watford put three past Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH manager Graham Rix was outfoxed by his former mentor, Gianluca Vialli as Pompey conceded three goals for the first time this season.

The pair have remained good friends since their time together when Vialli was in charge of Chelsea, but it was the Italian who came off by far the better in this encounter.

After the match, Rix insisted the defeat had nothing to do with his rivalry with Vialli but the poor performance from his players.

He said: "I am more disappointed with the way we played than in losing to Luca. I think in this league you're always capable of losing games, but especially in the first half I thought we were pathetic.

"To be fair, the lads responded second half and gave it a go, but we can't give away the goals that we did give away.

"We played well against Manchester City last week and if you saw this game you would think we were a totally different side. Three-nil probably flattered them a little bit, and I can't remember Yoshi having a save to make.

"But giving free headers in the box to concede two of our goals is unacceptable."

Portsmouth looked flat throughout the match and deserved to lose. They fell behind after 23 minutes when Micah Hyde's cross was headed out by Peter Crouch, but fell to the left boot of Paul Robinson who fired the ball home from 12 yards.

Courtney Pitt, filling the gap left by the injured Robert Prosinecki, failed to make great impact playing in behind the front two. But it seemed Pompey would have a chance if they went in at half-time only one goal down with Watford already having hit the bar, as well as scoring.

However, on the stroke of half-time, the Blues did concede another when Stephen Glass's left-wing corner was headed home by Neil Cox, who was left unmarked in the box.

It was always going to be a tough ask in the second half and it was one that Pompey never looked like getting to grips with. And their misery was compounded five minutes before time when a Glass free-kick was headed in by Pierre Issa, who was also left totally free in the six-yard box.

After the match Vialli said he was sad to have beaten his old friend, but he was sure Rix would have been happy to have beaten him.

The Italian said: "It is much better when you win and none of your friends are sat on the opposite bench. But I think Graham is doing a great job and is very courageous playing a very young side."