Portsmouth 2 Wigan Athletic 0: French farce inspires James to extract retribution from Wigan

Only David James could experience a week like that and only he would be willing to discuss the capricious nature of it all. Blamed (unfairly) for England's defeat against France in Paris on the Wednesday night, the Portsmouth goalkeeper responded with an immaculate performance against Wigan Athletic at Fratton Park on the Saturday afternoon.

Essentially, the week was James' entire career in microcosm. Pain followed by pleasure; criticism followed by praise. His save of Ryan Taylor's penalty, which denied Wigan an equaliser, came against the backdrop of the penalty he conceded in the Stade de France three days before. Yet again, the seemingly arbitrary nature of his fortunes blurred the distinction between negative and positive.

"Playing for England puts you above the parapet, so if it doesn't go well, it gives people a chance to say how they feel," James said. "When it goes right, your performance is exaggerated. Against Wigan, I saved a penalty that contributed to a win and if I had the chance to swap the situation here with the one in Paris [when he conceded Franck Ribéry's penalty], I'd prefer to save the one against Wigan."

Portsmouth were a goal in front, thanks to Jermain Defoe's instinctive flick from a tight angle in the 32nd minute, when James made that crucial second-half save. Diving to his right to push the ball out, he did more than preserve the lead; he sucked the confidence out of a Wigan team still fighting for Premier League survival.

"Portsmouth have their FA Cup semi-final [against West Bromwich Albion] next Saturday; we have our cup final [a league match against Birmingham City]," Chris Kirkland, the Wigan goalkeeper, said.

Wigan would have made their task easier had they converted at least one of their six clear-cut chances. The miss that hurt most came early on when Antonio Valencia's shot was cleared off the goalline by Glen Johnson, the superlative Portsmouth defender, who somehow managed to kick the ball against the underside of his own crossbar.

Henceforth, it was all about James, who twice produced good saves to deny Antoine Sibierski, and all about Defoe, who sealed victory with a neat finish at the end after a delicate pass by Niko Kranjcar.

Afterwards, with the rain trickling down James' chiselled features, he spoke of his immediate thoughts as Wigan were awarded their penalty. "France," he said. "France was all I could think of."

Goals: Defoe (32) 1-0; Defoe (90) 2-0.

Portsmouth (4-4-2): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson (Lauren, 63); Utaka (Hughes. 71), Davis, Pedro Mendes, Kranjcar; Baros (Nugent, 67), Defoe. Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk), Mvuemba.

Wigan Athletic (4-4-1-1): Kirkland; Melchiot (Aghahowa, 87), Boyce, Hagen (King, 73), Kilbane; Valencia, Skoko, Scharner, Taylor (Sibierski, 67); Heskey; Bent. Substitutes not used: Pollitt (gk), Figueroa.

Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire).

Booked: Portsmouth Defoe; Wigan Athletic Scharner, Skoko.

Man of the match: James.

Attendance: 18,623.

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