Vores onde ånd snød os igen.
En udligning i dommerens tillægstid frarøvede os den første sejr på Fratton Park over Charlton i 18 år. Med det ene point beholdt vi førstepladsen i League One, men forfølgerne er rykket tættere på, og det ser pludselig meget åbent ud omkring de to automatiske oprykningspladser.
Den officielle kamprapport
Eftertanken
Will Norris har ofte reddet et point eller to til os i denne sæson, men denne kamp var lige til glemmebogen for ham da han ikke så god ud ved nogen af de to scoringer. Meget kunne dog have været anderledes, hvis vi havde været skarpere foran mål især i anden halvleg, hvor vi skabte flere store chancer. Netop antallet af muligheder som vi kreerede mod en ellers god modstander må være det positive aspekt, som vi tager med os videre, lige som vi stadig er uden nederlag i denne sæson. Når det er sagt så var vi snublende tæt på endelig at gøre en ende på vores dårlige statistik mod The Addicks, og det kan man jo også vælge at se som et tegn på fremgang.
Et hurtigt liga-overblik
Afstanden ned til den lettere uønskede tredjeplads er nu blot et enkelt point efter at både Oxford (3-2 hos Leyton Orient) og Bolton (1-0 mod Blackpool) vandt deres respektive kampe. Bag dem vandt også Peterborough, endda hele 5-0 mod Cambridge mens også Stevenage fik tre points hos Wycombe. Dermed var det en skidt dag for os i toppen da kun Barnsley tabte. De gik til gengæld helt ned med 0-3 hos Derby County. I bunden tabte Reading med 2-3 hos Shrewsbury trods en føring på 2-0, og de beholder jumbopladsen. Over dem fik Cheltenham et enkelt point hjemme mod Wigan. Fleetwood slog Exeter 3-0 i en direkte duel om at komme fri af bunden, og sidstnævnte synker langsomt mod nedrykningspladserne grundet en stigende dårlig formkurve.
Kommentarer fra head coach John Mousinho
“The draw isn’t necessarily disappointing, but the manner of it is – we deserved to win the game and should have done. The nature of the second goal is really going to hurt us, although overall the performance was very positive. We hit the bar twice in quick succession and their keeper had probably the best game I’ve ever seen him play. Our finishing has to be a bit better, but he made save after save after save – some of them were excellent. If we create chances like we did in this game, then we’re going to score a lot of goals more often than not. Joe Morrell and Alex Robertson were excellent in the middle of the park and there were no eyebrows raised when the latter was named man-of-the-match. We were very positive, got the ball in the box early and there was a lot of attacking intent from us throughout. On another day Charlton’s second goal wouldn’t really matter because we would have a comfortable lead.”
Et par ord fra Joe Rafferty
“It’s a difficult one because our performance was quite good and it was a really entertaining game. It was end-to-end at times, but we controlled long periods and it’s just gutting to concede right at the end. We can be a bit disappointed with that, although you can’t let it affect you too much and we still haven’t been beaten. There were a lot of chances created – we’ve hit the bar and their keeper has played an absolute blinder. We were pushing on for that extra goal to put the game to bed and it didn’t come, while they go down the other end and score. That happens at times and we can’t get too down about it – we just have to be ready for the next one. I don’t really look too much at the table or how other sides are playing – I just focus on what we’re doing.”
League One, Fratton Park, 21. november 2023
Portsmouth – Charlton Athletic 2-2 (1-0)
31. minut: 1-0 Abu Kamara
71. minut: 1-1 Alfie May
75. minut: 2-1 Colby Bishop (straffespark)
90. minut: 2-2 Conor McGrandles
Opstillingen (4-2-3-1): Norris; Rafferty, Raggett, Shaughnessy, Sparkes; Robertson, Morrell (anfører); Lane (Swanson ‘87), Devlin (Saydee ‘70), Kamara (Whyte ‘70); Bishop
På bænken: Schofield, Towler, Stevenson, Yengi, Swanson, Saydee og Whyte
Advarsler: Ingen
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 19.404, hvoraf 2.147 var medrejsende Charlton supportere
Interview efter kampen med John Mousinho
Kampens Højdepunkter
Abu Kamara