TONY ADAMS will have enjoyed the post-match tipple of green tea in the host manager’s office. After a difficult week in which his assistant, Joe Jordan, left and joined Harry Redknapp at Tottenham yesterday, Adams had his first win in four attempts as Portsmouth manager.

The victory had never really looked on the cards until Jermain Defoe – probably another Redknapp target – tucked away a penalty in the 90th minute to cap a second-half comeback that began when the Algerian Nadir Belhadj scored with a long-distance effort.

For Sunderland, it meant a third defeat in a row and a return of their relegation worries. Manager Roy Keane was calm and refused to point the finger of blame, but fans will have no problems identifying the culprit as El-Hadji Diouf, who hadn’t made the starting lineup after being disciplined for his nightclubbing exploits the week before. On as a half-time substitute, Diouf lunged in on Glen Johnson to concede the penalty.

Adams had Niko Kranjcar back for his first start since the opening game of the season, while Noe Pamarot came back in at left-back, with Armand Traore and Papa Bouba Diop on the bench.

Of Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda and Djibril Cisse (the trio who had prepared for last weekend’s Chelsea game in a nightclub rather than their hotel) only Cisse made it into Sunderland’s starting lineup, with Daryl Murphy making a rare start beside him.

The flamboyant Frenchman produced an instant dividend. Andy Reid, restored on the left and another with a point to prove, gathered the ball just outside his penalty area on four minutes and immediately picked out Cisse with a pass of about 50 yards. In a race with Sol Campbell, there was only going to be one winner. Cisse also had the strength the shrug off the challenge before calmly stroking the ball low past David James.

Adams had warned of a backlash after Sunderland’s 5-0 drubbing at Stamford Bridge, but in the first half his players looked disinclined to prevent it.

With Reid pulling the strings, the home side looked capable of tearing Portsmouth apart, and Cisse could have had a hat-trick before the break. On 16 minutes it looked as if Sunderland had scored a second. Kieran Richardson – who struck twice in the corresponding fixture last season – collected the ball in plenty of space 30 yards out. As the defenders stood off him, he unleashed a fierce low shot that left James motionless as it rebounded off his left post.

James was then forced to make a couple of sharp saves, but after the break a different Sunderland emerged. Crisp and effective in the first half with their passing, they started giving the ball away, Malbranque and Reid especially profligate.

Their captain then produced a rare defensive error that led to the equaliser. Dean Whitehead’s weak header bounced off Kranjcar just outside the penalty area. When he squared the ball, Belhadj popped up to blast it past Marton Fulop from 25 yards for his first league goal for the club.

Sunderland were further unnerved by the arrival of Kanu for Peter Crouch, but still there was no strong indication that Portsmouth had it in them to snatch a winner. That was reckoning without the clumsiness of Diouf, who lunged with his left leg at Johnson after the right-back had knocked the ball past him, giving away a soft penalty.

Star man: Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth)

Yellow cards: Sunderland: Collins, Whitehead Portsmouth: Diarra

Referee: S Bennett

Attendance: 37,712

SUNDERLAND: Fulop 5, Bardsley 6, Ferdinand 7, Nosworthy 6, Collins 6, Malbranque 5 (Healy, 79min), Whitehead 6, Reid 7 (Leadbitter 79min), Richardson 6, Cisse 6, Murphy 5 (Diouf, h-t, 5)

PORTSMOUTH: James 6, Johnson 6, Campbell 5, Distin 6, Belhadj 7, Pamarot 6, Davis 5, Diarra 5, Kranjcar 6 (Utaka 75min), Defoe 7 (Hughes 90min), Crouch 6 (Kanu, 69min)