Yakubu in likely swansong for Portsmouth
Aiyegbeni Yakubu was given the task of shooting down Bolton’s lingering hopes of making a Champions League berth in what could be his last home appearance for Portsmouth before a £7m (€10.3m)-plus move to Middlesbrough in the summer.
Yakubu spearheaded Pompey’s attack in a team that had possibly his long-term successor, leading reserve-team striker James Keene, on the bench for the first time and midfielder Valery Mezague making only his fifth Premiership start.
Bolton boss Sam Allardyce retreated from his plan to drop El-Hadji Diouf after the Senegal star’s spitting shame against Portsmouth’s Arjan de Zeeuw but brought in Tal Ben Haim at the back to help seal the win that would clinch UEFA Cup passage.
Portsmouth: Ashdown, Primus, De Zeeuw, Stefanovic, Taylor, Mezague, O’Neil, Skopelitis, Hughes, Yakubu, Kamara. Subs: Hislop, Cisse, Fuller, Rodic, Keene.
Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Candela, N’Gotty, Ben Haim, Gardner, Hierro, Giannakopoulos, Okocha, Speed, Diouf, Davies. Subs: Poole, Nolan, Pedersen, Jaidi, Fadiga.
Referee: M Messias (S Yorkshire)
