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PORTSMOUTH | 2 | 1 | BLACKBURN ROVERS |
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Season 2025 / 2026 (H) Blackburn Rovers Championship |
| 13 December 2025 | TRANSFERMARKT | FOOTBALL DATABASE |
WON |
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PORTSMOUTH | 2 | 1 | BLACKBURN ROVERS |
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Pompey battled from behind
to beat Blackburn at Fratton Park and climb out of the Championship’s
bottom three. There was little festive cheer from the home faithful at the interval after Yuki Oshashi had given the visitors the lead against the run of play. But the ground was rocking when Callum Lang’s close-range finish deservedly brought the contest level again. And the Blues made the most of the momentum that gave them, as Ibane Bowat nodded home his first goal for the club to secure all three points. John Mousinho made a single enforced change from the side narrowly beaten at Swansea earlier in the week. Andre Dozzell returned from a ban to replace Marlon Pack – serving his own one-match suspension – in midfield. Pompey showed plenty of purpose in the opening stages and were looking to get forward whenever possible. They had an early opportunity to break the deadlock when Josh Murphy cut inside and hit a shot that was fumbled away by Aynsley Pears. Ohashi’s cross was nodded over by Andri Gudjohnsen at the other end, but it was the hosts looking most like to break the deadlock. Murphy swung in a couple of dangerous low deliveries, but a stretching Lang could not quite reach the ball on each occasion. And Terry Devlin let fly with a fierce 25-yard shot that had to be beaten away by Pears, as the Blues continued to push. But they fell behind on 36 minutes after Hayden Matthews had launched a promising attack, only to be caught out of position when John Swift’s pass was intercepted. It afforded Ohashi space to advance and breeze into the box with little resistance before curling the ball past Nicolas Schmid. That seemed to suck the confidence out of the Blues and they struggled to rediscover their rhythm for the remainder of the half. There was a deflected Murphy effort that looped into the arms of Pears, while a low Conor Chaplin free-kick into the box was also dealt with. Half Time: Pompey 0 Blackburn 1 Mousinho made a change at the break, with Colby Bishop on for Minhyeok Yang, as Lang moved out to the right. But the Blues were still lacking any real fluency going forward, leading to growing frustration from the crowd. Another switch followed to try to inspire a change of fortune, as Swift made way for Márk Kosznovszky just before the hour mark. There was an opportunity for Chaplin after he was fouled 25 yards out, but the loanee could only curl the free-kick over. But the hosts did then go close to levelling – and were left wondering just how they did not manage to find the net. Zak Swanson laid the ball back for Chaplin, whose shot was well saved by Pears, but the danger was not over for Rovers. A follow-up attempt from Lang was blocked on the line by Yuri Ribeiro before Pears once again denied Chaplin. And there was more frustration from the resulting corner, as Swanson sent a header narrowly over the bar. But the Blues were finally level on 62 minutes, when a fine Murphy cross was met by LANG at the far post and lashed into the net. They were not satisfied with that, however, and looked to continue attacking, although Blackburn still threatened on the break. It was the home faithful cheering on 79 minutes, though, after Chaplin swung in a corner that was neatly glanced in by BOWAT. Rovers suddenly showed more urgency and were generally being held at bay, although Sean McLoughlin did nod wide from a corner. And the Blues saw out the closing stages in relatively comfortable fashion to ensure the Fratton faithful could enjoy the perfect early Christmas present. |
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Updated - 15/12/2025 |
