Harrison hattrick var forgæves.
Han var nærmest afskrevet totalt men med tre mål mod Wimbledon i går viste Ellis Harrison, at han måske alligevel har en fremtid i klubben. Desværre er det også det eneste positive der er at berette om vores første kamp i denne sæsons EFL Trophy, hvor et reservepræget Pompey-mandskab over hele linjen var det næstbedste hold på banen. Når det er sagt så er smerten over nederlaget til at overse, og skulle det blive til et tidligt exit fra turneringen denne gang vil de færrest fælde tårer over det. Dette til trods er det alt andet end acceptabelt at lukke fem mål ind mod hvad der burde være en ligeværdig modstander uanset at den bagerste kæde i den formation ikke havde været prøvet tidligere.
Der var på dagen nul gengangere fra den seneste ligakamp hos Wigan, og dermed var der altså nye ansigter over hele linjen. Tre af disse fik debut i trøjen: Jake Eastwood, Mahlon Romeo og Louis Thompson. Lige som der fra bænken også blev debut til akademi-talentet Jewitt-White. George Hirst fik sin første kamp fra start for klubben.
Den officielle kamprapport
Kommentarer fra manager Danny Cowley
“It was a crazy game of football and we’re really disappointed to lose after fighting so hard to be in such a good position after 80 minutes. To concede five goals is incredibly annoying – I can’t remember the last time one of my sides did that. There’s a lot to ponder and it’s a difficult one to analyse right after the game. We’ll have to watch it back and pick the bones out of it. We changed the system after about 15 minutes and went to a back three and looked much better after that.”
“I’m pleased for Ellis and he was certainly one of the positives on the night – he looked a real handful for us. Mahlon Romeo was very assured on his debut and played with real athleticism on the right-hand side, while Louis Thompson was really strong in the second half. It wasn’t easy because we lost Alex Bass and had to get an emergency loan keeper in, but Jake Eastwood did just fine. That was the first time he’d met the group and he didn’t really know our game idea, so that made it tougher.”
“We picked the players who needed minutes and could have had a more experienced bench, but didn’t want this match to affect our preparations for Saturday. Some of the guys looked really short of match practice and will have to do better if they want a place in our team.”
EFL Trophy gruppespil, Plough Lane, 7. september 2021
AFC Wimbledon – Portsmouth 5-3 (2-1)
02. minut: 1-0 Paul Kalambayi
43. minut: 2-0 Aaron Pressley
45. minut: 2-1 Ellis Harrison
52. minut: 2-2 Ellis Harrison
78. minut: 2-3 Ellis Harrison
80. minut: 3-3 Aaron Pressley (straffespark)
87. minut: 4-3 Will Nightingale
90. minut: 5-3 Luke McCormick
Opstillingen (4-4-2): Eastwood; Romeo, Mnoga, Downing (anfører), Ogilvie; Hackett-Fairchild, Thompson (Jewitt-White ‘71), Jacobs, Gassan; Hirst, Harrison
På bænken: Steward, Kaba, Simpson, Bridgman, Payce, Gifford og Jewitt-White
Advarsel: Mnoga
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: Ikke oplyst
Post-match interview med Danny Cowley
Kampens højdepunkter
