Marginalerne manglede mod topholdet.
Det lykkedes ikke for Pompey også at overraske mod rækkens tophold da det blev til et 1-2 nederlag hjemme mod Coventry City i en kamp, hvor der desværre var et par kontroversielle kendelser, der faldt ud til gæsternes fordel. Det efterlader os indtil videre på en 15. plads i rækken, små fem points ned til nedrykningsstregen.
Der var en enkelt ændring i startelleveren denne aften. Zak Swanson fik chancen da det blev vurderet, at Jordan Williams ikke var 100 procent klar efter en mindre skade mod Leicester i lørdags.
Ti minutter efter at Adrian Segecic var blevet skiftet ind måtte australieren forlade banen igen med en ankelskade. Det vides i skrivende stund ikke, hvor alvorlig den er.
Den officielle kamprapport
https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/news/2025/october/21/match-report–pompey-v-coventry/
The Championship, Fratton Park, 21. oktober 2025
Portsmouth – Coventry City 1-2 (0-1)
30. minut: 0-1 Brandon Thomas-Asante
56. minut: 0-2 Brandon Thomas-Asante
90. minut: 1-2 Makenzie Kirk
Opstillingen (4-2-3-1): Bursik; Swanson (Devlin ’64), Knight (Matthews ’80), Poole, Ogilvie (Bianchini ’74); Pack (anfører), Dozzell; Chaplin, Swift, Minhyeok (Segečić ’64 (Kirk ’74)); Bishop
På bænken: Killip, Bowat, Le Roux, Kosznovszky, Devlin, Matthews, Bianchini, Segecic og Kirk
Advarsel: John Swift
Udvisning: Ingen
Tilskuere: 20.321, hvoraf 2.186 var medrejsende Coventry supportere
Eftertanken
Det er altid skidt når man efter en kamp taler mere om dommeren end spillernes præstationer, og lad os bare sige, at trods nederlaget så gjorde vores elleve det bedre end ham der dømte opgøret. Der var vel knapt nok én afgørende kendelse der gik vores vej. Igen var der altså ikke en finger at sætte på indstillingen om end markeringen ved 0-1 målet så lidt sløset ud. Men det er også kendetegnende for et tophold, at spillerne nærmest ved hvor chancerne opstår, og at de scorer på dem. Det var en af forskellene på de to hold tirsdag aften. Forud for 0-2 målet burde der have været dømt frispark til os. At der ikke blev det var nærmest kampen i en nøddeskal set fra et Pompey perspektiv. I front lykkedes igen intet for Colby Bishop, og det er meget sigende at det var indskiftede Makenzie Kirk, der fik pyntet på resultatet. Med Segecic ude med en skade begynder det at tynde ud i vores muligheder i front, så vi må krydse fingre for, at Josh Murphy endelig er klar når det gælder Stoke City på lørdag. Alternativt at Bishop endelig kommer i gang, for vores store manko i spillet er stadig, at vi scorer alt for få mål.
Rundens andre resultater
Hvis man synes at denne sæson indtil videre har været atypisk og overraskende, ja så understregede denne runde nærmest dette. Eksempelvis tabte alle tre nedrykkere. Ipswich hjemme 0-3 mod Charlton, Leicester 1-2 ude til Hull og S***hampton 1-3 hos Bristol City. Omvendt var der fuldt gevinst til de tre tophold. Ud over Coventry sikrede Middlesbrough sig tre points på Hillsborough via en 1-0 sejr mens Millwall slog Stoke City med 2-0. I bunden vandt Sheffield United for anden kamp i træk da de besejrede Blackburn med 3-1, og er måske ved at vende skuden. Under stregen befinder sig i stedet Norwich City, som tabte med 0-1 hos ligeledes formsvage Derby County. The canaries har nu tabt 5 af de seneste 6 kampe. Wrexham fik endelig sæsonens første sejr på hjemmebane da det blev til 1-0 over Oxford United.
Kommentarer fra head coach John Mousinho
“It’s obviously a disappointing result, but I felt it was a fair one overall and we didn’t quite get going. It looked a clear penalty to me in the first half and the referee didn’t see it because he was looking inside the box, but I still expect one of the officiating team to pick it up. We then settled into the game more and the disappointing thing is the nature of the goals that we conceded. There was a throw down the line that we just didn’t deal with and it ends with a corner that they score from. And the second one we just weren’t strong enough defensively after a spell where we looked good. The timing was poor, but the manner of it was even worse. Football is a simple game at times and if you don’t win your challenges or those first and second balls, then you’re going to lose.”
«Coventry are clearly a very strong side and we huffed and puffed to get back into the contest, but it was just too late. Makenzie looked bright when he came on and was running in behind. He was very positive and it was great for him to get his goal. We’ve competed with the side at the top of the league – who have put five and seven past teams this season – but there are things we need to do a lot better.”
Et par ord fra Makenzie Kirk
“I was happy enough to score my first for the club, although obviously it’s not the result that we wanted. It was just about staying composed – the goals don’t move, so you’ve got to trust in yourself and do the right thing. You have to keep watching the game when you’re on the bench, so you know who you’ll be coming up against if you’re brought on.”
“Coventry are a really good side this season. Frank Lampard has them playing great football and they’re top of the league for a reason. But the boys put everything into it and we’re all just disappointed that we couldn’t secure a better outcome. We’ve shown as a side in the past few weeks that we can compete against these big teams in the Championship. So we need to make sure that we keep doing the right things and work hard on the training pitch so we’re ready to face Stoke.”
“I’ve really enjoyed training and the games, where the fans are excellent – I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it.”
Interview efter kampen med John Mousinho