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Pompey were denied what
would have been a hard-fought victory at Middlesbrough after conceding a
late penalty. It came after Christian Saydee had stunned the Teessiders with two finishes in the first half that sandwiched an equaliser from former Fratton defender Matt Clarke. Will Norris then made a series of fine saves after the break, only for Tommy Conway to level from the spot. John Mousinho made a couple of enforced changes from the side that drew with Luton on home soil the previous week. With Conor Shaughnessy absent and Sammy Silvera ineligible to face his parent club, in came Zak Swanson and Elias Sørensen. New signings Abdoulaye Kamara and Harvey Blair were both named on the bench, joined by a fit-again Kusini Yengi. Pompey got off to a blistering start and took the lead in just the second minute, with a move started and finished by Saydee. He played the ball to Swanson, who in turn found Callum Lang on the right, with the forward passing across the box for SAYDEE to fire home. That was the cue for the home side to apply plenty of pressure and it did not take long for them to get back on level terms. Finn Azaz swung in a corner and Clarke rose to send a perfectly placed header past the dive of Norris. The keeper collided with the post as he tried to keep the ball out of the net and had to receive treatment before changing his bloodied shirt. Middlesbrough went on the hunt for more goals, only for Pompey to then start to provide more of an attacking threat themselves. Sørensen almost caught Seny Dieng dithering in possession, but the keeper just about managed to get the ball clear. He was not quite so lucky on 25 minutes, however, after coming out of his box to get to the ball, only to collide with Clarke. The allowed SAYDEE to race through, take a touch and then calmly roll a low shot into an empty net to restore the visitors’ lead. Both sides appeared capable of adding to the scoring as the first half progressed, with some shaky moments in defence at either end. An effort from Isaiah Jones was cleared by Jordan Williams, only for the ball to ricochet off the back of Andre Dozzell and have to be hacked off the line by defender. It looked like the hosts would level on stoppage-time when Emmanuel Latte Lath raced through, but Norris was quickly off his line to make a brilliant block. Half Time: Middlesbrough 1 Pompey 2 The visitors had an opportunity straight after the restart, with Anfernee Dijksteel doing well to head behind Lang’s cross and deny Connor Ogilvie a simple headed finish. Middlesbrough were soon back up the other end of the pitch, as Dozzell and Sørensen made timely blocks in quick succession. They were upping the pressure and Norris used his legs to deny Delano Burgzorg before recovering to keep out Azaz’s follow-up. A first change for the Blues quickly followed, as Sørensen made way for Blair to make his debut. Middlesbrough continued to push for a leveller and Ogilvie threw himself at the ball to stop Jones getting a shot away. Norris then made himself as big as possible to deny Azaz, using an unfortunate part of his body to make the save. Mousinho made a double change while he was recovering, as Saydee and Paddy Lane were replaced by Yengi and Terry Devlin. Norris was the hero again on 72 minutes, superbly tipping over Hayden Hackney’s fierce strike from inside the box. Another pair of substitutions occurred for the visitors, with Matt Ritchie and Owen Moxon providing fresh legs for the closing stages, while Lang and Dozzell were given a rest. It was still Boro doing most of the attacking and an acrobatic Latte Lath attempt was tipped over the bar by Norris. But the keeper was finally beaten at the death, with Conway calmly slotting home a penalty after Moxon had been penalised for leaning into Jones in the box. The display of an additional seven minutes gave the hosts hope of an even greater reward, but the spoils were ultimately shared. |
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