Portsmouth FC 25/26

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Season 2025 / 2026

(H) Sheffield Wednesday

Championship

20 September 2025

FOOTBALL DATABASE

LOST

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	PORTSMOUTH	0		2	SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY


		12	Bannan
		50	Brown

	Pompey produced a lacklustre display to slip to a 2-0 defeat against troubled Sheffield Wednesday at Fratton Park. They were made to pay for a slow opening and Barry Bannan’s free-kick meant the Owls led at the interval. George Brown then took advantage of Conor Shaughnessy’s injury to score a second for the visitors and despite plenty of late pressure, the Blues could not find a reply. John Mousino made two changes from the side that drew at St Mary’s Stadium in last weekend’s south coast derby. Ben Killip and Florian Bianchini both came into the starting line-up, replacing the injured Nicolas Schmid and Josh Murphy. It meant that Conor Chaplin would make his first Fratton appearance in a Blues shirt for more than seven years. If confidence was high among the home ranks, then it certainly did not show during a sloppy showing throughout the first half. Killip came to the rescue early on, brilliantly tipping Svante Ingelsson’s diving header over the bar after Alex Palmer had crossed from the right. But the keeper was picking the ball out of his net on 12 minutes, as Bannan brilliantly bent home a free-kick from just outside the box. Another effort from the experienced midfielder soon after took a huge deflection on its journey past the post. Pompey just could not get going and were not being helped by a series of misplaced passes that invited pressure straight back on them. An angled drive from Palmer was kept out by the legs of Killip and the keeper then dived to his right to push clear Bannan’s attempt. There was an improvement as the half progressed and although the Blues were not exactly flowing, they were starting to force the Owls back into their own half. When Chaplin was brought down, the free-kick was played short to John Swift, whose dipping long-range strike was well dealt with by Ethan Horvath. Adrian Segečić then found the side netting after Connor Ogilvie’s ball into the mixer was not dealt with by Harry Amass. Not that it was all one-way traffic and after one quick break from the visitors, a tame Brown shot was comfortably held by Killip. It was Pompey looking more threatening as the interval approached, though, and Chaplin’s effort was well blocked by Max Lowe. Half Time: Pompey 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1 There was a double switch at the break, as Zak Swanson and Swift made way for Josh Knight and Luke Le Roux. It was the centre-back who had a chance straight from kick-off, but Bianchini’s fine delivery struck him and ricocheted clear. But a moment of huge misfortune on 50 minutes saw Pompey lose both another goal and one of their key players. Yan Valery’s long ball over the top looked like being mopped up by Shaughnessy, only for the centre-back to pull up sharply. Brown took advantage to race clear and fire into the net, while the Irishman limped off to be replaced by Hayden Matthews. Pompey tried to hit back and a corner from Le Roux was met by a glancing Ogilvie header that Horvath did well to repel at point-blank range. They were trying to push forward whenever possible and Poole got on the end of a Bianchini cross, only to see his attempt deflected behind. Both sides then made a switch, with the visitors bringing on former Blues favourite Jamal Lowe, while for the hosts, Segečić made way for debutant Makenzie Kirk. Colby Bishop had been feeding off scraps, but he sent a looping header towards the target after meeting Andre Dozzell’s corner, only for Max Lowe to nod it away from the line. He then got on the end of Le Roux’s set-piece from the other side and this time Horvath managed to claw the ball clear. Mousinho’s final throw of the dice saw Márk Kosznovszky come on for Dozzell in the middle of the pitch on 75 minutes. It was the Owls who were next to go close against the run of play, however, as Valery’s crisp strike was pushed clear by a diving Killip. Pompey kept knocking at the door, but it was clearly not going to be their day, with yet another Bishop header from a corner kept out by Horvath. There was certainly not let-up in terms of effort during the closing stages, but the Blues just could not make their pressure count.

Updated - 22/09/2025