2018-19: Portsmouth-Luton 1-0

Smal sejr i sæsonens første kamp med 4 debutanter.

AV: STEEN HOUMAN

KAMPER: I en af optakterne til sæsonen, blev Pompey beskrevet som et hold der nok ville vinde mange kampe 1-0 eller 2-0, og nok måske ikke spille det flydende offensive spil, men et hold der står solidt.

Det var sæsonens første kamp måske et tidligt bevis på, for ingen tvivl om at nyoprykkede Luton viste kvalitet, og de viste at holdet ganske som spået kan være med fremme i League One.

Pompey manager Kenny Jackett havde haft et røgslør ude, da han fortalte at Jamal Lowe var ude med skade og nok først klar om 2-3 uger.

Hovsa hvem var med i start XI, rigtig gættet Jamal Lowe og han skulle vise sig at få en afgørende fod.

4-4-2

Kenny Jackett holdet fast i 4-4-2 formation med 4 af de nye spillere der er kommet til klubben var med fra start nemlig Craig MacGillivray, Lee Brown, Tom Naylor og Ronan Curtis.

Luton startede med at tage grebet af kampen og viste sig opsatte på at fortsætte det offensive spil fra sidste sæson i League Two hvor de lavede 94 mål.

Det var da også Luton der fik den første mulighed da et indlæg skabte en farlig chance, men kort efter slog Pompey til med det der skulle blive kampens eneste mål.

Curtis kom fri mod baglinjen, og sendte en pasning ind til Lowe der satte indersiden på, og så førte Pompey 1-0.

Pompey kom ikke frem til flere muligheder, mens Luton havde et frispark udefra siden, der fik lov at passere og ramme den bageste stolpe hvor den sprang ud i spil, og Pompey fik sendt bolden væk.

Efter pausen var Pitman lidt overraskende ikke med i stedet kom store Oliver Hawkins ind og måtte slide meget ensomt i fronten.

Pompey var i defensiven mens Luton søgte udligningen og The Hatters havde da også endnu et forsøg på stolpen, mens Pompey ikke rigtig kom frem til noget og den ene gang det kunne blive til noget, ja det ordnede gæsterne med et professionelt frispark.

I slutfasen fik Luton et frispark lige udenfor feltet, og sparket sad faktisk godt, men vores nye keeper MacGillivray lavede en fin redning ude ved stolpen.

Så endte kampen med en snæver sejr på 1-0. Luton skabte meget og havde to forsøg på stolperne men de havde dog ikke de store 100% chancer!

Pompeys forsvar stod solidt og makkerparret Matt Clarke og Jack Whatmough var stærke og positivt med en keeper som holdt nullet og viste gode takter.

Luton Town manager Nathan Jones:

‘I thought we were outstanding. ‘They scored from a real error, they’re quite a direct side, we won the first header but it fell, then (Alan) Sheehan slipped, we got done one v one and then they scored a decent-ish goal. ‘I thought we dominated the game from start to finish, to come from Fratton Park and play like that, I’m so proud of my team. ‘We should have been comfortable, as we created the type of chances, I don’t know how thick those bars and posts are, but I thought we were brilliant, I really did. ‘To come into League One, it will be a tester, the start we had against the favourites, or second favourites, and to do that to them, I’m excited for what we can achieve.’

‘I’ve never been this pleased after a defeat, but I know we’re in a good place. ‘I’m not mentioning anything about them, like others have done for us, with budgets and stuff like that, no, no, no. We’ve come here and competed with one of the best in the league and we’ve been by far the better side.’

Pompey manager Kenny Jackett:

“Pearson and Sheehan won too many headers in both halves and the service needs to be better for our forwards.

“We’re going to need the qualities we did show throughout the game, but does the build-up and possession need to be better? Yes.

“There are things we need to add to a committed display because for the home side, we had very few chances.

“I was pleased with the goal – it was a good run from Ronan down the right hand side and he pulled it back well for Jamal, who made the finish look easy.

“It was a key moment that ultimately won us the game, but we just didn’t create enough from that point.”

Kommentarer fra twitter

We get another striker and attacking midefielder and we will be sorted. I’m a fan of Haunstrup as a LB but not a LW. Also think 4-2-3-1 is better for balance, protection & keeping hold of the ball… I trust me old mucka Kenny though! #Pompey #UpTheBlues

3pts for #pompey from a game we may well have lost on another day is a great return! Always good to win when you’ve not played well!

Ronan Curtis is going to cause defenders all sorts of problems! Got some serious energy that boy. #pompey

How did Clarke get MOTM yesterday over Whatmough is my question, every other ball seemed to be Jack clearing it. Whole defence was immense to be fair #pompey

A sign of a good team taking three points from a poor performance my man of March @macgillivray93 with two impressive saves and @RonanCurtis1 is probably still running about now mans a machine #Pompey #BLUEARMY

Pompey Player Ratings

Craig MacGillivray: 7 – Distribution needs work, but made some key saves in the second half.

Nathan Thompson: 7 – Crucial block in the first half and got stuck in. Hopefully his injury isn’t too serious.

Matt Clarke: 7 – Typical strong performance.

Jack Whatmough: 8 – Won virtually everything in the air and a clam influence at the back.

Lee Brown: 6 – Solid if unspectacular debut. Looks like he’ll pick up a fair few cards this season!

Jamal Lowe: 6 – Scored but wasn’t given the opportunity to do much else.

Anton Walkes: 4 – Did not look at all comfortable at centre midfield. Could be given his chance at right back if Thompson’s injury is serious.

Tom Naylor: 5 – Surprisingly lacklustre debut. Will be expecting better from him.

Brandon Haunstrup: 5 – Not build for a role so far up the pitch.

Ronan Curtis: 7 – Looks good with the ball at his feet and physical strength means he can win the ball high up the pitch. Should be an asset this season.

Brett Pitman: 5 – Virtually anonymous but knowing him will probably return and score at Blackpool. Not helped by sloppy service.

Christian Burgess (Thompson 71): 6 – Slotted in a right back and did a job, though he actually looked fairly good when supporting the attack.

Ben Close (Walkes 60): 6 – An improvement on Walkes.

Oli Hawkins (Pitman 46): 5 – Not the focal point of the attack or outlet that Jackett would have been hoping for.

League One, Fratton Park, 4.august 2018

Portsmouth – Luton 1-0 (1-0)

16. min. 1-0 Jamal Lowe

Pompey (4-4-2): MacGillivray; Thompson (Burgess 71), Whatmough, Clarke, Brown; Lowe, Naylor, Walkes (Close 60), Haunstrup; Pitman (c) (Hawkins 46), Curtis

Bænken: McGee, Burgess, Close, Hawkins, Donohue, Evans, Chaplin

Gult kort: Lee Brown og Ronan Curtis

Tilskuere: 19.018 (2.392 away fans)

Under følger videoer og flere bilder fra kampen: