Yakubu chimes in for Pompey triple
LONDON, England -- Portsmouth's Nigeria striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu scored a hat-trick as his side won their first game of the Premier League season with a thrilling 4-3 home win over Fulham on Monday night.
Pompey grabbed three goals in a nine minutes in the first half hour before Fulham fought back to 3-2 at halftime through Andy Cole and Portugal international Luis Boa Morte.
Yakubu completed his hat-trick on 72 minutes before Carlos Boacenegra scored his first Fulham goal to insure a tense finish.
Yakubu had scored two of the first half goals, the first a penalty after Ricardo Fuller was brought down by Boa Morte in the 21st minute, two minutes after Eyal Berkovic had opened the scoring following up a Yakubu shot.
The Nigerian scored his second after a Fuller flick-on put him free and he slotted his left foot shot past Edwin van der Sar in the 28th minute.
Fulham, however, refused to buckle and got back into the match when Cole headed in a Boa Morte cross in the 39th minute before the pair combined again two minutes later, this time Boa Morte converting after Cole had made the final pass.
Yakubu could have scored a fourth in the final 10 minutes when he was free against van der Sar, who saved brilliantly at close range.
Both sides had several chances to score in the second half due to some atrocious defending though Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and van der Sar were outstanding.
Portsmouth are now 11th on four points, while Fulham dropped to 13th due to goal difference, also on four points.
