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Pompey stretched their
unbeaten run to four games with a goalless draw against Norwich at Fratton
Park. Although there were not an abundance of clear-cut openings, both sides had chances to claim all three points before ultimately settling for one each. John Mousinho made two enforced changes from the side that eased to victory against Bristol City at the weekend. With Callum Lang and Andre Dozzell both serving a one-match ban, in came Paddy Lane and, making a first start of the season, Owen Moxon. Pompey looked to begin on the front foot, but there were few good chances at either end during a lively first half. Emilano Marcondes wasted a decent opening when he nodded a Borja Sainz cross straight into the arms of Nicolas Schmid. And a spell of pressure at the other end of the pitch ended with Lane flashing a shot narrowly over the bar. That came just after Josh Murphy’s free-kick had slammed into the wall and his follow-up attempt was blocked. Murphy was looking Pompey’s most dangerous player and after Freddie Potts pinged a perfect pass out to him, the forward cut inside and curled inches past the post. The referee was probably the main focus of attention, however, with Andrew Kitchen showing six yellow cards in the opening period. Both sides looked to threaten as the interval approached and Norwich might have taken the lead in fortunate fashion. Sainz’s effort took a huge deflection off Terry Devlin and was heading for the net, only for Schmid to recover and make a fine save. Half Time: Pompey 0 Norwich 0 Poole did not emerge from the tunnel for the second half, with Tom McIntyre on to replace him at the heart of defence. Schmid was soon called into action to make a regulation save from a Sainz shot before the hosts did manage to find the net. Unfortunately for most people inside the ground, though, the referee harshly blew for a foul on Angus Gunn just as Connor Ogilvie was turning the ball home. A Lane attempt was then gathered by the Canaries keeper before Potts had a shot that flew not too far off target. The visitors continued to collect yellow cards, with Marcelino Núñez perhaps relieved to escape further punishment following a late challenge on Ogilvie. There were further worries for the hosts when McIntyre required treatment and then had to change his bloodied kit. Both sides looked more than capable of scoring as the game entered the closing stages, even if the keepers were still given little to do. Colby Bishop did send a delivery right across the face of goal, but nobody could get on the end of it and Norwich were able to clear the danger. Devlin then cut inside from the right and laid the ball back for Lane, but his placed effort was blocked when perhaps power was the answer. Christian Saydee, Zak Swanson and Elias Sørensen all came on, as Mousinho rested some tiring legs for the final few minutes. And Swanson got on the end of a stoppage-time Murphy cross, only to see his header diverted off target. But despite being urged on by the Fratton faithful, the Blues were unable to snatch a last-gasp winner. |
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