A quick-fire start at Fratton Park helps the Blues to victory over The Potters.
Portsmouth climb out of the relegation zone and up to 18th, after defeating Stoke City 3-1 at Fratton Park.
John Mousinho’s side will feel rather satisfied with tonight’s result, not only for getting revenge for that deflating 6-1 defeat in the reverse fixture back in the October, but Pompey now sit 3 points from safety from the drop.
The Blues now sit above the Potters in the championship standings, with Stoke boss Mark Robins still without a win in the league since joining at the start of January.
Before kick off, the 2 sides paid their respects to Pompey fan Alec Lumb, who sadly passed away before Pompey’s game this past weekend. Everyone in Fratton Park took part in a minute's applause to remember Alec, who was a lifelong Pompey supporter and season ticket holder for many years.
Both players of Portsmouth and Stoke City sported black armbands on their sleeves in honour of Alec.
This tie got going rather quickly, with Callum Lang being shoved in the back by Josh Wilson-Esbrand, who only joined the Potters this morning on loan from Manchester City.
The shove from the Stoke City left back forced referee Josh Smith to point to the penalty spot very early on and give Pompey a chance to take the lead.
The Blues' number 9 stepped up to the penalty spot with pure confidence and fired the ball past Viktor Johansson in the City net to make it 1-0.
Stoke’s defence gave themselves a rather a lot of time on the ball around the back, and Pompey’s usually pressing figures of Matt Ritchie and Callum Lang caused a lot of problems with their usual high press.
Nicolas Schmid played a long ball up to the Pompey front line, which found Lang who took advantage of Ben Wilmot’s failed clearance giving the Blues number 49 the chance to head the ball over the top of Wilmot and Johansson to make it 2-0 inside just 9 minutes.
Lang’s celebration was a
touching tribute to Alec Lumb, with the Pompey forward running over to the North Stand lower, blowing a kiss to show his love for Alec’s memory as a dedicated Pompey fan.
Mark Robins’ side managed to find their feet in this game, catching the Blues defence off guard with a quick free kick that was fired at the back post by Wilson-Esbrand’s looping ball in, that was found by Wilmot headed home to claw 1 back for the Potters just before the half hour mark.
Pompey saw the game out until half-time, but it was certainly clear that Mousinho’s men needed more goals to wrap this contest up and accumulate a vital three points.
Half-time: Portsmouth 2-1 Stoke City
Pompey took no time in returning to being back on top in this game, with Freddie Potts’ corner arriving at the back post to meet Connor Ogilvie who took a touch, before walking the ball up to the roof of the net to make it 3-1 to Portsmouth, just five minutes into the second 45.
The Blues number 3 had a smile on his face, following his mistake for Stoke’s goal in the first half, where he left Wilmot unmarked on the quick free kick where he was given time and space to head the ball in.
It was Jordan Williams who received the well-earned Man of the Match reward for his efforts, putting in a solid performance all game after keeping his spot in the XI.
The former Barnsley defender’s game will give John Mousinho a lot to think about going forward, with the likes of Zak Swanson and Terry Devlin who have also tried making the right back position their own.
Devlin made a crunching tackle at the end during the 3 additional minutes of added time, when his challenge left Wilmot limping off the pitch and angering Wouter Burger and keeper Johansson who felt the tackle was rather reckless, but their frustration was replied with yellow cards for the pair moments before the full time whistle.
Full-time: Portsmouth 3-1 Stoke City
Next up: The busy January period continues for Portsmouth, as John Mousinho’s side travel to The Hawthorns to play West Bromwich Albion this Saturday, with Tony Mowbray’s side are coming off the back of a 2-0 defeat midweek, versus a Middlesbrough side that Pompey defeated at Fratton Park last weekend.
Despite the loss of Carlos Corberan to Valencia, The Baggies still have aspirations of finishing in the play off places for a second year in-a-row.
Tony Mowbray will be looking to secure his first win since taking charge, after the 61-year-old had a rather heart-warming welcome back to management following his successful recovery from cancer last year.
Can Pompey pick up their second away win of the season or will the winless away form since QPR back in October continue to knock them down, despite the Blues confidently bouncing back again at Fortress Fratton when there’s a defeat on the road.
Portsmouth: 13. Schmid (GK), 2. Williams (Devlin), 7. Pack (C), 35. Atkinson, 3. Ogilvie, 8. Potts, 45. Hayden (21. Dozzell) 30. Ritchie (22. Swanson) 49. Lang, 23. Murphy 9. Bishop
Unused Subs: 31. Archer (GK), 4. Towler, 15. Saydee, 16, McIntyre, 17. Moxon, 29. Blair
Bookings: Pack 13’ Atkinson 31’
Goals: Bishop 5’ (penalty) Lang 9’ Ogilvie 49’
Stoke City: Johansson (GK) (C), 33. Wilson-Esbrand (3. Stevens), 16. Wilmot (18. Lawal), 26 Phillips, 22. Tchamadeu (5. Rose), 6. Burger, 12. Seko (10. Bae), 11. Koumas, 8. Baker, 24. Moran (35. Lowe), 14. Ennis
Unused Subs: 13. Bonham (GK), 7. Vidigal 37. Tezgel, 50. Lipsiuc
Bookings: Seko 33’ Baker 56’ Lowe 79’ Burger 90+1’ Johansson 90+2’
Goals: Wilmot 27’
Venue: Fratton Park
Referee: Josh Smith
Attendance: 19,388 (Including 947 Stoke supporters)
The Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast from tonight's broadcast at Fratton Park is also available to listen back to! Jake Smith was joined in the press box by Joe Wood and James Wilson to provide full post-match reaction, including the thoughts of head coach John Mousinho.
Jake Smith will be back on Friday (January 24th) evening from 6pm with the next episode of The Football Hour on Express FM to deliver even more analysis from this fixture and preview the next one - West Bromwich Albion welcome the Blues to The Hawthorns on Saturday (January 25th).
Comments
Add a comment