As for his brother, not a glance was made in the direction of Gary. The match had been like much of Phil Neville's Old Trafford career, the ending had not matched the hopes at the start.For the promise never came to fruition with Phil at United. Instead, making his Premiership debut in midfield in the blue of Everton yesterday, for the first time in his life, he was disappointed when Manchester United won. He wore his unhappiness on his unfamiliar sleeve. "I can see three years down the line," Ferguson says on the video Ultimate United, "and I think he will be an absolutely marvellous full-back." So much for the sage of Stretford. His crystal ball was on the blink that day because three years on Phil Neville was not a full-back fixture in red and eight years on he is not even a full-back.

Sir Alex Ferguson is not known for mistakes but he made a whopper when it came to Phil Neville. Asked in 1997 to pick his perfect Manchester United team from the players during his time at Old Trafford he had no qualms about one full-back - Dennis Irwin, quiet, dependable, the consummate professional - but who should he out on the right? Gary Neville, Viv Anderson and Paul Parker were considered and reluctantly rejected and instead he plumped for potential and chose the younger Neville. Instead, the winger thrashed his shot against the legs of goalkeeper Sander Westerveld.It was Defoe who had sent Mido away for the first goal and it was the England striker who sealed the game in the second half. But he also, tellingly, spoke of the "professional job" his young team then went on to complete. "If we can have a solid performance defensively and we can win games, I think we can do better," he said.The inference was that they had ground out the away win, the kind of thing they failed to do last season. Too many times, Jol said, his team had dominated without winning.

It was time for change.There was little sign of early cohesion even if his plans were stymied by the injuries to Davids, Robbie Keane and, in particular, Ledley King. In the latter's absence Anthony Gardner appeared hesitant, especially against the pace of Lomano LuaLua. In one first-half incident he bundled into the striker in the area. It was not a penalty but it was an unnecessary risk.That was during Portsmouth's dominance. But for all their momentum they failed to create enough openings and they failed to anticipate Robert's guile. Also leaden was Spurs' Wayne Routledge, who should have taken advantage after just three minutes when the ball rebounded to him off the disappointing John Viafara. Unfortunately it was Andy Griffin who, trying to dispossess Mido, poked the ball beyond his own goalkeeper and into the net on the stroke of half-time to give Spurs an undeserved lead.Before then, Portsmouth, with Robert's precision from the flanks, were the more threatening Martin Jol, Spurs' head coach, recognised that.