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Pompey made a fast start at
Fratton Park to beat Cardiff and receive a massive boost in the battle to
beat the Championship drop. Colby Bishop slotted home an early opener to reach 50 goals for the clubs and Conor Shaughnessy’s header soon doubled the advantage. But Callum O’Dowda reduced the Bluebirds’ deficit and there were plenty more chances for further goals at both ends of the pitch. Somehow they never arrived, though, and the final whistle was greeted by a massive roar to show the value of those three points. John Mousinho made one change from the side that were unfortunate to be beaten at Sheffield United at the weekend. Isaac Hayden replaced Freddie Potts in the centre of midfield, while a fit-again Mark O’Mahony was named on the bench. After a scrappy opening to proceedings, it was the hosts who were quickest to settle and create some openings. And they took the lead on nine minutes, when BISHOP was played in by Murphy and neatly poked the ball into the bottom corner. Murphy then sent in a dangerous corner that somehow evaded everyone on its way out of play before having a shot that was deflected wide. The in-form winger was soon found by Matt Ritchie and hit a shot that Jak Alnwick superbly turned around the post. But the Blues did double their advantage when a corner from Murphy was nodded home by SHAUGHNESSY. Murphy then fired into the side netting from a tight angle, as the hosts looked to strengthen their lead further. Instead it was halved midway through the first half, with O’Dowda climbing above Zak Swanson to convert Andy Rinomhota’s cross with a fine guided header. The action kept switching from one end to the next after that and Murphy’s effort was kept out by Alnwick, while Connor Ogilvie made a fine block to deny Cian Ashford. Callum Robinson did put the ball in the net for the visitors, but did not even bother to celebrate, as it had clearly gone out of play in the build-up. They might have levelled just before the break after Joel Bagan took advantage of a ricochet, although Nicolas Schmid did well to block his attempt. Half Time: Pompey 2 Cardiff 1 Mousinho opted to make a change at the interval, with Terry Devlin replacing Swanson in the right-back role. It was the lively Murphy who had the first chance of the half, although after finding space to advance into the area, his shot was blocked. And when Callum Lang then forced the ball through to Bishop, his fierce strike was kept out by a diving Alnwick. Robinson then found the net and, for the second time in the evening, it was disallowed, this time for offside. But there a few worried faces around Fratton Park when Shaughnessy went down injured and was replaced by Hayden Matthews on the hour mark. A couple more changes soon followed, with Marlon Pack and Adil Aouchiche on for Hayden and Ritchie. Pompey were looking to rediscover their attacking rhythm and a couple of Murphy corners in quick succession caused the Bluebirds problems. The winger then fired a free-kick narrowly over the bar after Dimitrios Goutas had been booked for bring down Pack on the edge of the box. Mousinho’s final switch saw the hard-working Lang given a chance to put his feet up, with Cohen Bramall brought on. Cardiff almost equalised when Robinson met Anwar El Ghazi’s delivery on the volley, but Schmid saved from point-blank range. The keeper’s long ball up the pitch then found Bishop, whose shot was deflected against the crossbar. But the danger was not over and follow-up attempts from Aouchiche and Murphy were blocked before Pack’s attempt was saved by Alnwick. And that proved to be the final chance of note, as the Blues saw out the closing stages to secure a precious win. |
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