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Pompey let slip an interval
lead as they were beaten 2-1 by Sheffield Wednesday at a packed Fratton
Park. Connor Ogilvie struck just before the break as the Blues ended an entertaining opening half on a real high. But Josh Windass levelled for the Owls, who snatched all three points courtesy of a stunning strike from Michael Smith. John Mousinho made five changes from the side comfortably beaten on the road at Cardiff earlier in the week. Jordan Archer was handed his first start between the sticks, while there were also places for Terry Devlin, Andre Dozzell, Christian Saydee and Mark O’Mahony. Nicolas Schmid, Jordan Williams and Paddy Lane all missed out after getting injured in south Wales, with Marlon Pack and Elias Sørensen dropping to the bench. Smith and Di’Shon Bernard both started for the visitors against their former club, with Jamal Lowe among the substitutes. The Fratton faithful were in a raucous mood as the action got started, creating a wall of noise to back their side. And Pompey responded by looking to get straight on the front foot as the contest began at breakneck speed. For all their impressive play moving up the pitch, though, clear-cut chances were proving hard to come by. It was the Owls who were first to come close to breaking the deadlock and a free-kick was nodded back by Smith for Liam Palmer to hit a low shot that Ogilvie diverted past the post. Antony Musaba then raced onto Barry Bannan’s ball down the line and cut the ball back into the mixer. An attempted Tom McIntyre clearance flew straight to Smith, but Dozzell was quickly on hand to block his attempt. The Blues started causing problems of their own, with a couple of corners in quick succession troubling Wednesday. Callum Lang was then fouled 25 yards out, dusting himself off to hit a curling effort that James Beadle did well to push wide. And the crowd were wondering just how Pompey had not taken the lead on 43 minutes after another Lang free-kick struck the wall. The ball then hit Mark O’Mahony and headed towards the net before being cleared from the line by Pol Valentín. But they did go ahead from the resulting Freddie Potts corner that was flicked towards goal by O’Mahony. The ball hit Smith and was kept out by Beadle, only for OGILVIE to lash it into the net and spark wild scenes of delight around the ground. Half Time: Pompey 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 The hosts were looking to build on their advantage after the break, but instead saw their lead cancelled out within 10 minutes of the restart. Bannan lifted the ball into the box and it was nodded down by Smith for Windass to fire home, with Pompey’s offside appeals ignored by the officials. Mousinho freshened up his forward line with a change just past the hour mark, as Saydee made way for Kusini Yengi. But the visitors were doing a good job of keeping hold of possession and keeping the Blues pushed back in their own half. They started to settle again and had an opportunity when Josh Murphy’s deflected cross was nodded back by O’Mahony. Yengi did well to bring the ball under control, turn and hit a shot that was blocked by a sliding Max Lowe. But they fell behind on 70 minutes after Yan Valery picked out Smith to hit a superb bending 25-yard strike that left Archer with absolutely no chance. A couple more changes followed for the hosts, as Murphy and Dozzell were replaced by Sammy Silvera and Pack. Matt Ritchie also came on for O’Mahony and soon swung in a teasing corner that Beadle did well to punch clear. Pompey were starting to dominate possession and territory as the seconds ticked down, but not able to convert that into anything clear-cut. They had a great chance right at the death, however, when Ritchie swung a cross into the box, only for Lang to nod the ball over from close range. |
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