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Pompey endured a night to
forget in Staffordshire as they crashed to a 6-1 Championship defeat at
Stoke. It did not look too bad at the half-hour mark after Mark O’Mahony had cancelled out Tom Cannon’s early free-kick. But they completely fell apart during a dreadful 11-minute spell either side of the interval, conceding five goals. There were three more goals from Cannon – including one dubious penalty – with Sam Gallagher and Andrew Moran also getting in on the act. John Mousinho made two changes from the side that drew with Sheffield United on home soil at the weekend. Harvey Blair was handed a first start, while Connor Ogilvie recovered from illness, as Sammy Silvera and Jacob Farrell made way. There was a familiar face in the opposition line-up, with Pompey’s League Two title-winning left-back Enda Stevens included by Stoke. The visitors could count themselves lucky not to be behind in the opening minute, as their opponents looked to get straight on the attack. A fine Ben Wilmot strike cannoned back off the crossbar, with the follow-up from Stevens well saved by Will Norris. The Potters were applying plenty of early pressure and Norris also held a low Moran effort before Gallagher fired into the side netting. And they deservedly took the lead on 13 minutes after Marlon Pack was penalised for a foul and Cannon bent home the free-kick. But that was the cue for the Blues to start find some attacking rhythm of their own and cause a few problems. It started when Blair did well on the right and swung in a cross that was turned over the bar by Tom McIntyre. They also caused trouble from a couple of corners and the home side suddenly started to look a bit wobbly. They thought they had doubled their lead when Gallagher found the net, only for celebrations to be cut short by an offside flag. Pompey soon added insult to injury by levelling the contest after the lively Josh Murphy collected a Norris throw on the left. He surged down the wing and burst past two defenders before squaring the ball for O’MAHONY to slot home his first goal for the club. They were unable to build momentum from that, however, and soon found themselves on the back foot again. It still looked like they would head in level at the break, only for Stoke to strike twice at the end of the first half. Cannon grabbed his second of the evening, lashing the ball into the net after racing onto an incisive Gallagher pass. And Gallagher found the target himself in stoppage-time after a Norris clearance flew straight to Moran. Half Time: Stoke 3 Pompey 1 The visitors found themselves further behind shortly after the restart, thanks to a moment of controversy. Norris and Cannon collided as they both went for the ball and referee Tom Nield signalled for a free-kick, only to quickly change his mind and point to the spot. Pompey were absolutely furious with the decision, especially as Cannon dusted himself down to convert the penalty. But they could not really complain about what happened in the next few minutes, as Stoke scored twice more. Cannon collected the ball from Bae Junho to fire in his fourth of the night, while Moran then got in on the attack by shooting past Norris. Mousinho responded with a triple substitution, as Pack, Blair and Murphy made way for Abdoulaye Kamara, Christian Saydee and Silvera. There was plenty of gallows humour coming from the away end, with more than 1,700 travelling fans trying their best to enjoy the evening. Regan Poole was brought off on 72 minutes, perhaps with Saturday in mind, as Jordan Williams came on. The Pompey faithful continued to make the most noise as they got behind the side during the closing stages, which passed by without too much incident. There might have been a late Blues consolation, but Viktor Johansson stopped Paddy Lane from converting a Silvera cross at the back post. |
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