Pompey Subs: Paddy Lane for Christian Saydee, Kusini Yengi for Andre Dozzell, Mark O'Mahony for Matt Ritchie, and Abdoulaye Kamara for Sammy Silvera. 60 minutes.
Kusini Yengi header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marlon Pack with a cross. 71 minutes.
Sunderland subs: Wilson Isidor replaces Patrick Roberts, and Ian Poveda replaces Romaine Mundle. 73 minutes.
Final whistle. 1-3. Only a two goal deficit, against a decent team who have spent a lot more money than us during the transfer window. It was always going to be difficult, but despite our injury list, it wasn't as bad as I feared!
Perhaps it was a good thing that there were not any tickets available when I realised they'd gone on sale... But given we have so many new players who have joined us recently, it's gonna take them a while to gel. Heck, some of them probably don't know everyone's names yet... And as you say, it's only -2 to our goal difference against one of the sides that will probably be near the top at the business end of the season Looking forward to our first win whenever that will come!
Final Match Stats:- Overall Possession: Portsmouth 54.9%Sunderland 45.1% Shots: Portsmouth 6Sunderland 11 Shots on target: Portsmouth 2Sunderland 4 Shots off target: Portsmouth 2Sunderland 3 Blocked shots: Portsmouth 2Sunderland 4 Goalkeeper saves: Portsmouth 1Sunderland 2 Aerial duels won: Portsmouth 15Sunderland 16 Fouls: Portsmouth 14Sunderland 14 Corners: Portsmouth 5Sunderland 5
Well my second visit to Fratton Park in fifty years went as well as the first (a loss to Millwall). It must be time to go back to Oz and watch from a safe distance!! Clearly we were beaten by the better side on the day. Much seems to be made about our central defender injuries but I felt that Towler and Williams played reasonably. The problem appeared to be the inability of the mid fielders to play sufficient creative forward passes. It is difficult to say if this is the fault of the mid fielders being too conservative or of those furter forward not running into spaces. However, all though Pack did not have a good game he did seem able to find more forward players with his passes. Richie and Swanson are both players I admire. But playing them together on the right hand side appears to be a mistake. Neither appear likely to go round the outside of a defender so when a pass finds them they inevitably turn infield and make a square or backward pass. Silvera on the left does provide some go forward and can beat a defender. After having done so he has difficulty getting his head up to find a pass that takes advantage of the reduction in defender numbers he has created. Given the huge difference in pace between the Australian A league and the English Championship he has not done badly todate. Kamara was a breath of fresh air when he came on. I would like to see him persevered with in the short term - sadly at the expense of Dozzell who plays with consistent competence but shows little innovation. Harvey Blair also showed glimpses of pace in his short opportunity. The potential of Kamara and Blair provided the biggest positive of the day. PUP Saydee deserves to be continued with. He got poor service yesterday. Whilst Yengi has not had much time on the pitch yet he did appear to have difficulty adapting to the pace of the game yesterday. Kamara was a breath of fresh air when he came on and I feel should be persevered with in the short term. Driiscol plays competently but does not provide sufficient 'go forward.' Harvey Blair also demonstrated some pace when he came on all be it briefly. The performance of Kamara and the glimpse of Blair were the biggest positives of the day. PUP
