Merson's quality rocks Brighton

Portsmouth 4 Brighton and Hove Alb

Portsmouth reinforced their position at the top of the First Division at Fratton Park yesterday, but not with the degree of safety the score would suggest. Previously goal-shy Brighton suddenly remembered the aim of the game and, for a long period in this engrossing match, had the leaders on tenterhooks.

The combined inspiration of Harry Redknapp's managerial know-how and Paul Merson's timeless ability to remind us that passing is not just about a quick one-two with the nearest player has given impetus to Portsmouth's season. It also meant Brighton were never likely to come along the south coast like a confident invasion party. The visitors' 2-0 home defeat by Walsall on Bank Holiday Monday was their fifth successive match without a goal, making it all the more ominous that they were again without prolific scorer Bobby Zamora, who has a knee injury but should return soon.

Merson shone from the first minute and made his mark in under four. Nigel Quashie worked well to set up the attack, switching the play to the left, where Merson instantly sent a penetrating pass to Matthew Taylor, who slid a shot past the former Portsmouth goalkeeper Andy Pettersen.

But Portsmouth's lead lasted only five minutes as Brighton countered well and David Marney slammed a shot that cannoned off a retreating defence to Danny Cullip, who carefully placed his low shot beyond Shaka Hislop. Although Brighton had drawn Portsmouth's early sting, Merson's ideas still seemed to offer the best prospect of goals when the home side carelessly lost parity. Richard Hughes tried to turn the ball back to his goalkeeper but found Paul Brooker, who shot home.

The defences continued to struggle and, when put under pressure by Deon Burton, Guy Butters, making his first appearance for Brighton, made a clumsy challenge. The referee had a clear view and Merson eagerly stepped forward to send the resulting penalty beyond Pettersen.

Frailty at the back remained the dominant theme, so it was no surprise when a diagonal pass from Quashie just before half-time wrong-footed the entire Brighton defence. Taylor quickly cut the ball back through a mass of players and the Bulgarian Svetoslav Todorov was left unmarked to side-foot the easiest of goals and hand Portsmouth a lead that had some of the Brighton players almost coming to blows in frustration as they went in for the interval.

This was cup-tie football in the warmth of summer. In spite of their previous paucity of goals, Brighton looked capable of more, while Portsmouth looked capable of just about anything. No ball driven into either penalty area found a confident defender. By switching the direction of attacks, Merson exploited the deficiencies, and his pass early in the second half led to Jason Crowe making a run right to left past static defenders before firing inside the far post.

In spite of their 4-2 lead, Portsmouth still pressed forward and at last appeared to take control. Hayden Foxe and Arjan De Zeeuw became more composed in the centre of their back line while Merson directed events with unmatched ingenuity.

The passion of the game was never far from boiling over and it did so with 13 minutes left when Graham Barrett, just signed by Brighton from Arsenal after a loan spell, reacted with flailing arms in a tackle with Taylor and was sent off. That brought Portsmouth the extra security they needed.

Even so, if they continue to offer plain sides like Brighton so many opportunities, Portsmouth's promotion challenge will be difficult to sustain. And Redknapp admitted he does not expect any team to dominate, saying: "If we can stay in the top six all season, that would be an achievement." To help him do that he may sign Tottenham's Tim Sherwood, who has only six months left on his contract.

Portsmouth 4
Taylor 3, Merson 26 pen, Todorov 45, Crowe 52

Brighton and Hove Alb 2
Cullip 9, Brooker 19

Half-time 3-1 Attendance: 19,031