Pompey come out on top

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Crouch followed up his crucial UEFA Cup goals against Guimaraes with a spectacular opener but it was left to Defoe to net the winner after former Pompey striker Ricardo Fuller equalised.

Crouch and Defoe now have 11 goals between them this season since Pompey set up their £18.5million partnership.

And the 6ft 7ins former Liverpool forward, who notched two in midweek to rescue Portsmouth's UEFA Cup hopes in Portugal, took them into double figures with a stunning overhead kick from Defoe's pass in the 25th minute.

Yet in Pompey's seventh game in 22 days - boss Harry Redknapp made just two changes from the side that knocked out Guimaraes - they were forced into a fierce battle by Stoke.

But after Fuller bundled home an equaliser three minutes into the second half, Defoe cracked the winner three minutes later, having already hit a post.

All Pompey's early dominance pointed to a comfortable win as winger Armand Traore terrorised Stoke's right flank with a series of raids that produced near misses by Papa Bouba Diop and Defoe.

Yet the home side suddenly began to struggle against Rory Delap's long throws and Fuller's committed approach.

Ex-Pompey chief Tony Pulis must have cursed when Dave Kitson missed a 17th-minute sitter, clipping his shot wide from Delap's diagonal pass with only David James to beat.