Pompey double sub: Rob Atkinson on for Paddy Lane, and Terry Devlin replaces Zak Swanson. 69 minutes. Debut for Rob Atkinson.
Pompey double sub: Christian Saydee and Owen Moxon on for Andre Dozzell and Freddie Potts. 87 minutes.
Final whistle. 1-0 to the home team. What a good performance from us in the second half. We had quite a few half chances to draw level in the last few minutes. Sunderland's finishing was poor in the second half. Down to ten men, and we showed spirit !
Fair play Woopert. You guys dug right in today and battled all the way to the end. We should have really put the game to bed on numerous occasions, though.
Final Match Stats:- Overall possession Sunderland 58.9%Portsmouth 41.1% Shots Sunderland 24Portsmouth 6 Shots on target Sunderland 8Portsmouth 1 Total touches inside the box Sunderland 39Portsmouth 14 Goalkeeper saves Sunderland 1Portsmouth 5 Fouls Sunderland 9Portsmouth 10 Corners Sunderland 7Portsmouth 3
Today's Attendance: 39,846 (incl. 1,069 Pompey fans). What an effort by these Portsmouth fans who have made the 12 hour (686 miles) round trip in snowy weather to Sunderland today.
Yeah that’s all in. Clearly that many didn’t actually turn up today. Looked about 30k there, I’d guess at.
We kept ourselves in a position to potentially get something out of the game throughout even though it did not eventuate this time. Its about the best we can do in away games against the top few teams. Even though they did not bear fruit it was good to see Lang and particularly Murphy trying to run onto Bishop's 'flick ons,' This has not previously always been the case. A continuation of this approach will gain us some points against better clubs. PUP
