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Pompey were unable to
recover from a terrible start in south Wales as they lost 2-0 at Cardiff
in the Championship. A calamitous Regan Poole own-goal was soon followed by the hosts doubling their lead through Callum Robinson. And to make matters worse for the Blues, Paddy Lane and Nicolas Schmid were both forced off in the first half. John Mousinho made two changes from the side that won on the road at Queens Park Rangers at the weekend. Elias Sørensen and Lane came into the starting line-up, as Mark O’Mahony and Christian Saydee dropped to the bench. Slow starts have been a familiar tale for Pompey this season and it was no different on this occasion as they quickly fell behind. There was nothing on for the hosts when Perry Ng sent a hopeful ball into the box, but Poole slid in to send it into his own net. And it soon got worse for the Blues, as a corner was flicked on by Dimitrios Goutas for Robinson to turn home at the back post. They were unhappy that it was allowed to stand, with replays showing the forward inadvertently catching Schmid in the head with his knee. Nothing was going the way of Mousinho’s men and Lane – who had already required treatment – soon limped off to be replaced by Kusini Yengi. Cardiff continued to threaten and Ollie Tanner fizzed an angled effort narrowly wide before Schmid beat away an Anwar El Ghazi free-kick. But the keeper was soon down requiring treatment – possibly because of that earlier contact from Robinson – and unable to continue, with Jordan Archer brought on for his debut. He was soon involved in the action, getting his fingertips to a low David Turnbull strike that took a deflection off Poole. There had not been much worthy of note at the other end, although a long-range Callum Lang strike flew wide. The chances also dried up for the home side as the half drew to a conclusion, although that only arrived after nine minutes of stoppage-time. Half Time: Cardiff 2 Pompey 0 Mousinho made a double switch at the break, with Jordan Williams – who appeared to get hurt colliding with Turnbull before the break – and Sørensen replaced by Terry Devlin and Saydee. And Pompey did a good job of pressing their opponents immediately after the restart, although it was not long before the Bluebirds were on the attack. When the ball was worked quickly from right to left, Poole got enough on Callum O’Dowda’s effort to divert it past the post. The resulting corner was then worked to Turnbull and his fierce effort was pushed clear by the diving Archer. Pompey’s did threaten just before the hour mark, when Yengi collected a Freddie Potts pass and bundled his way through before being denied by Jak Alnwick. Cardiff immediately had a chance of their own, though, and when El Ghazi raced through, Archer stayed upright and saved with his feet. The keeper frustrated the hosts again moments later, this time keeping out Ng’s shot at the back post. A lull followed as the opportunities dried up, although the healthy band of travelling fans were still making a racket. Hopes were raised when Josh Murphy collected Poole’s cross-field pass and found Saydee in the box, but the substitute was unable to get a shot away. Matt Ritchie then came on for Murphy and the visitors continued to look bright, with Lang taking the ball from Yengi and drawing a save from Alnwick. A series of corners also caused the home side problems as the Blues at least showed their heads had not dropped. Devlin then swung a free-kick right into the mixer, but the ball just would not fall for a black-shirted player. And despite more pressure being applied as the seconds ticked down, Pompey could not find a way back into the contest. They might still have conceded again right at the death, but Archer twice denied Rubin Colwill with a couple of smart stops. |
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