Der blev gravet dybt efter ekstra kræfter i en kamp hvor Coventry kunne have lukket kampen.

Det var et solbeskinnet Fratton Park der lagde græs til den tidlige kamp mellem Portsmouth og Coventry i League One. Hjemmeholdets fans var i fin form og opbakningen var massiv med sange og play up Pompey der rungede.

Første store chance kom også til Pompey efter et hjørne hvor Coventrys keeper så skidt ud, og bolden blev reddet på stregen af den tidligere Pompeyspiller Tom Davies.

Her var der spillet ti min af kampen, og Pompey lignede holdet der var ved at få greb om kampen, men en fejl på midten så Coventry få en hurtig kontra, og der svigtede de ikke, og så stod den pludselig 0-1.

Coventry som på udebane ikke har tabt til nogen af top 5 holdene, var pludselig ganske tilfredse, for det betød de bankede mere på til play off, mens Pompeys ambitioner om at holde fast i den direkte oprykning så skidt ud.

Gæsterne var små ti min senere ved at komme på 0-2, da et ny hjørnespark fra Pompey gav problemer for Coventrys keeper, og efter et forsøg fra distancen på en returbold fra Lowe, røg returen til en Coventryspiller, der spillede den langt frem til Luke Thomas der nåede bolden før vores keeper MacGillivray, og havde Thomas afsluttet første gang, så havde den nok stået 0-2, men han valgte at tage et træk, og så nåede Nathan Thompson ned i målet og reddede på stregen.

Man like @nathan_t23 #Pompey pic.twitter.com/hLcjoODjIX

— Frog (@PragmaticFrog) April 22, 2019

Det blev starten på en god periode for Coventry, der havde et skud blokeret og et par hjørnespark.

Da uret rundede de 30 min, kom Pompey endelig lidt frem, og der var en bold ind i feltet, hvor Pompeys Evans søgte at få et straffespark, men det skulle man vist være mere end en hjemmebanedommer for at se.

Efterfølgende gav det igen momentum til Pompey, og et hjørnespark så Naylor heade snert over.

Der var masser af aktion i kampen, så for den neutrale tilskuer, ja så var det en fin kamp med flest farlige forsøg til Coventry, men stillingen 0-1 holdt frem til pausen.

Coventry havde spillet klogt og holdt bolden i egne rækker og var hurtige på omstillinger, mens Pompey mest havde været farlige på hjørnespark.

Skulle Pompey tilbage i kampen, så skulle der findes noget i den taktiske værktøjskasse.

Stats ved halvleg sagde:

Skud på mål 4-7

Hjørnespark 3-5

På twitter skrev en bruger

Piss poor first half. Coventry dominating the ball and our midfield, with these temperatures not a day to be chasing the ball. Think we might need to change the shape up second half to get people around Hawkins and extra man in midfield. Big 45 minutes in our season! #Pompey

I pausen, ja der handlede Pompey manager Kenny Jackett, Hawkins og Evans blev udskiftet, og ind kom Ronan Curtis og James Vaughan.

Angriberen Vaughan kom ind til sin 8 kamp for Pompey, og i de foregående 7, ja der har han haft i alt 2 afslutninger.

Det kneb at komme i gang med det gode spil efter pausen, og første chance kom efter 10 min, da Lee Brown fik trykket af efter et indlæg, det mens Pompeyfans sang we need a miracle, need a miracle.

Det kneb gevaldigt for Pompey at skabe noget, og først efter tyve min af anden halvleg, kom der en lille mulighed, men James Vaughan var ikke skarp nok på det hovedstød.

Kort efter kom så målet der løftede Fratton Park, et Pompeyhjørne røg lige ind i hovedet på Tom Naylor, og den strøg ind i målet, hvad var første afslutning på mål for Pompey i kampen.

Nok havde Coventry haft de bedste chancer og burde have ført 0-2, men Pompey bevarede roen og tåmodigheden og med 25 min tilbage af kampen, helt åbent med 1-1.

En stilling som Coventry ikke kunne bruge til noget, da de med det ene point ville have 65 point med to kampe igen, og 4 point op til playoff.

Coventry havde efter 71 min en chance alene med vores keeper, men sparkede forbi.

To min senere, ja så var der hjørne til Pompey, men denne gang fik Coventry afværget.

Med 15 min igen, så blev Conor Chaplin skiftet ind for Coventry, og den tidligere Pompeyspiller der er kommet igennem akademiet i Portsmouth, fik en fin velkomst fra Fratton End.

Frisparket der ikke var der, var tæt på at give Coventry et mål, Chaplin gled uden for feltet og det gav et frispark. På frisparket, ja der headede Coventry lige på keeper MacGillivray.

To min senere var det igen Pompey med et hjørne, det blev clearet, men Curtis fik fat i bolden i den anden side, og hans indlæg blev i første omgang clearet, men returen røg ud til Pompeys anfører Brett Pitman, der sparkede til første gang og ind røg bolden til en 2-1 føring med 7 min igen.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1120329461684232192

Så belejrede Coventry Pompeys straffesparksfelt, og boldene blev hældt ind men clearet igen og igen.

Hele 6 min var lagt til så det stod på en særdeles nervepirrende afslutning, mens fansene råbte Blue Army.

Pompey måtte grave dybt i denne kamp, og det gav en vigtig sejr, hvor Pompey var presset mod et Coventryhold der havde chancerne.

Det var den syvende sejr i streg i ligaen, og dermed var der lagt pres på Barnsley og Sunderland der spillede senere på dagen.

Der måtte Sunderland smide en sejr i overtiden og fik 1-1, og dermed er topstillingen utrolig tæt, og kampen mellem Sunderland-Portsmouth er kampen hjemmeholdet ikke må tabe, hvis de skal bevare om håbet der hedder direkte oprykning.

Kommentarer fra Twitter

Curtis is a game changer. Facts #Pompey

That was a very similar game to Burton. Not upto standard but get the job done. Sign of a solid team, now upto second…for now  @officialpompey #pompey

Did we deserve that over 90 minutes? No. Do I care? Absolutely not! Results by any means necessary at this point. Play up Plymouth and Posh now but failing that, 3 more wins does it!

Easter Blessings that Lee Burge is even more aerially inept than Ryan Allsop #Pompey

Coventry didn’t deserve that, better side throughout; offside for the second Portsmouth goal and no idea why the ref didn’t allow them to take that free kick quickly; thought the attacking team were supposed to gain the advantage? Through on goal

#Pompey with two hard fought wins in a row before Sunderland. But need to step it up if we want to get a result there on Saturday. Wouldn’t even say we deserved the win in either, but results are what matters right now. Just 3 more games now #PUP

Cracking atmosphere today. Great 3 points. But can we all just take a minute to appreciate what the groundsmen have been doing. Looks beautiful, especially this late into the season. Well done @officialpompey

What a brute of a defender Nathan Thompson is – and one of #Pompey‘s most underestimated performers. Absolutely outstanding against Cov. That goal-line block was pivotal at 1-0 down. His heart, guts and desire epitomise this team. Master at defending one-v-ones too. MOM today.

An unforgettable afternoon down at Fratton – the old girl was rocking from first minute to last (thought the Fratton End was gonna cave in at full time!) and #Pompey showed incredible spirit to battle back for a huge, huge win! On to Sunderland now, three wins and we’re up!

Coventry manager Mark Robins

“We’ve created brilliant chances; we’ve scored a great goal.” He said.  

“Luke has had two unbelievable chances; they are guilt edged chances and if they go in it is game over and we win three or four nil.

“As it is, they are probably one of the best second half teams in the country and they’ve come back and what they have got in their armoury is different to what we have.

“They have got that power that shone through from the set plays. When you have got a bit more nous which they have, the bench is strong, and you have got to try and cope with that, but we ran out of steam a little bit.

“The front end tried to keep working for the 90 minutes in this heat, it didn’t help yesterday when we had a fire at the hotel, we had no food, so we had to order in from a well-known chicken establishment which wasn’t great.”

“We’ve come and played and that’s been a really good performance today, it’s just disappointing we haven’t come out on top or got anything from the game.

“We’ve got a good team and a good group of players that are almost there.

“We play a really good brand of football, the supporters are behind them, its just that extra bit that we have got to try and get right for next season.

“I thought Kelly was magnificent today in terms of the experience, I thought he was outstanding.

“They (Portsmouth just had those extra couple of players across the pitch that have that extra couple of years under their belts.”

“I think it was a good game, the condition of the pitch was outstanding and the way in which we played on it was pleasing, we have just failed to come out on top and see the job through.

“But there is no way we deserved to get nothing from that game.”

Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett:

“We’ve had two tough games over the Easter weekend against in-form teams playing with a lot of confidence.

“Coventry frustrated us when we had the ball in the first half and were very quick on the counter-attack.

“I felt they thoroughly deserved their lead at the break and it was a good game-plan that was well executed.

“There was some energy lacking and too many of our players were a yard down – it’s quite easy to look like that at this stage of the season.

“But we grew into the game during the second half and kept the pressure on them, getting the crowd behind us.

“We used our substitutes and kept going – James Vaughan made some key contributions when he came on.

“We were in Coventry’s half most of the time and I’m pleased to say that two of our most experienced players got decisive goals.

“Set-pieces looked our biggest threat and we made it pay after the break. Tom’s a strong header of the ball and I think he’s capable of scoring more.

“Then the second phase of a corner has fallen for Brett and whatever side it falls on, you expect him to keep it under the bar. It was a great finish.”

Portsmouth skipper Brett Pitman

 “It feels like a big result – they all do at this stage of the season. It’s a massive three points for us.

“We said before the game that we felt we could do well from set-pieces and that proved to be correct.

“I wasn’t meant to be where I was – I was supposed to be on the goalkeeper. I could see I wasn’t going to get there for the cross and pulled away a little bit.

“Luckily the ball has fallen for me and I’ve managed to hit it pretty sweet. It was great to see the ball hit the net.

“I don’t think we were too far away in the first half and both sides had some really good chances to score.

“But we maybe played with a little bit more intensity after the break and the crowd really got behind us – once you get one goal here, it’s difficult for the visitors to keep you out.”

“It would mean everything to the lads and I’m sure it would be the same for the gaffer – I don’t know how he keeps as calm as he does!”

League One, Fratton Park, 22.april 2019

Portsmouth – Coventry

9 min 0-1 Hiwula

66 min 1-1 Lee Naylor (Brown)

83 min 2-1 Brett Pitman

Portsmouth: MacGillivray; Thompson, Burgess, Clarke, Brown; Naylor, Close; Lowe, Pitman (90. Walkes), Evans (46. Curtis); Hawkins (46. Vaughan)

Bænken: Bass, Walkes, Curtis, Solomon-Atabor, Morris, Vaughan, Haunstrup

Kort: Ingen

Tilskuere: 18,884 (1,267 away fans)