THE one club out of the leading nine in the country that Portsmouth had beaten hitherto this season were Everton, a result that they repeated, somewhat laboriously, in this lunchtime match.

Two goals by Peter Crouch, both achieved through his sheer height rather than any dextrous positioning or athleticism, brought this about after Portsmouth had conceded a goal in the opening minutes.

Hence Everton became the first club in the Premier League to suffer 250 defeats, a surprising statistic to follow Sir Alex Ferguson’s assertion that David Moyes is one of the three managers he regards most highly.

They had little to offer other than from set-pieces and the lethal swing of Leighton Baines’s left boot. Jo and Louis Saha in particular were on the periphery of such action as there was.

Everton, who gave a debut to Lars Jacobsen in defence, took the lead through his fellow full-back, Baines, after four minutes. A delightfully taken goal it was, too. A free kick just outside the penalty area was curled in off the left-hand post, David James failing to deal with the trajectory of the ball.

This was, it must be said, the sole chance Moyes’s team had in the first half other than a scuffed left-foot attempt by Jo. Nor was their passing all it might have been after the interval. “We allowed Portsmouth to take the initiative and we were always lacking a bit of spirit and punch. Our squad is smaller than it should be,” Moyes said.

Portsmouth were level 18 minutes later. Crouch’s height often appears underutilised, but not now as he reached Glen Johnson’s opportunistic flick across goal They might have gone ahead early in the second half when David Nugent, deployed here on the left wing, with Niko Kranjcar playing in an advanced midfield role, had a shot blocked by Tim Howard’s legs.

They took the lead after 75 minutes when Crouch out-jumped Marouane Fellaini at the far post to reach Sean Davis’s corner and score his 11th league goal of the season.

All in all, though, this smacked of a contest between one team that had reached its zenith for the season and another who have made a precipitous descent down the table. Portsmouth should remain in the Premier League, if only just.

“I am not surprised – I can make a case for winning every match we have played,” said Paul Hart, Portsmouth’s manager. “I think we deserve credit for stopping Everton from playing, as they had lost only once in their past 18 matches, and that was to Manchester United.

“I am expecting that level of performance to be maintained for the rest of the season and if everyone sticks to their responsibilities, we’ll be okay. Peter Crouch? He is a cracking player.”

Star man: Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)

Yellow cards: Portsmouth: Kaboul, Hreidarsson Everton: Osman

Referee: P Walton

Attendance: 20,388

PORTSMOUTH: James 5, Kaboul 6, Campbell 6, Distin 6, Hreidarsson 6, Johnson 6, Davis 6, Mullins 6, Nugent 5 (Kanu 74min), Kranjcar 6, Crouch 8

EVERTON: Howard 6, Jacobsen 6 (Gosling 86min), Lescott 6, Jagielka 6, Baines 7, Osman 6, Fellaini 6, Neville 6, Pienaar 6, Saha 5, Jo 5 (Rodwell 90min)