
John Swift's second half strike earns Portsmouth a valuable Championship point at the King Power Stadium.
This Championship encounter already had some question marks going into it with the fixture being moved to 7:45pm to accommodate the Leicester Tigers’ rugby match at home to Bath during the day.
That did not stop Pompey, who yet again stepped up to a side higher than them in the division, and earned yet another point on their travels.
The Blues moved up to 14th in the Championship standings on 13 points, one point and position above arch South-Coast rivals Southampton in 15th.
John Mousinho made no changes to the eleven that defeated Middlesbrough one-nil just before the international break; however, Northern Ireland Under-21 forward Mackenzie Kirk replaced Harvey Blair on the bench.
The Foxes took the lead just before the half-hour mark, when Burnley loanee Aaron Ramsey scorpion flicked Abdul Fatawu’s cross into the area, past Josef Bursik to make it 1-0 with 26 minutes gone.
Yang Min-heyok then came incredibly close to making it three in three, but the South Korean under-21 winger’s caressed effort of the ball at the back post smacked Jakub Stolarczyk’s crossbar.
City kept Pompey on the back foot for the remainder of the half, with efforts from Fatawu and Ramsey again being comfortably dealt with by Bursik in the Blues' net.
HALF-TIME: Leicester 1-0 Portsmouth
Pompey came close to an equaliser early in the second half, but Colby Bishop’s header off the back of Marlon Pack’s cross from the back post went wide of the Foxes’ goalmouth.
John Mousinho’s side then found a leveller via the Gosport-born John Swift, who first linked play with Min-hyeok, who sprinted with the ball into the home half, before teeing up Swift, who fired the ball past Stolarczyk at his near post, to make it one-one and score his first-ever Portsmouth goal.
The second 45 saw the Blue army dominate the 2016 Premier League champions, with efforts at goal from substitute Florian Bianchini coming close on two occasions.
The Swansea loanee was one of four subs this evening, replacing Min-hyeok, as well as Márk Kosznovszky, Adrian Segečić, and Terry Devlin, who came on for Connor Chaplin, Swift, and Jordan Williams.
There were an additional 7 minutes of added time, with Pompey keeping the pressure on Martí Cifuentes’ side, coming close to a winner, but ultimately it was a hard-fought point achieved for Mousinho’s men.
The hosts came close to snatching the winner late on, but left-back Luke Thomas aimed his shot from sub Hamza Choudury's cross wide of the goal.
FULL-TIME: Leicester 1-1 Portsmouth
Next up: It’s back to Fratton Park for John Mousinho’s side, who welcome top of the table Coventry City on Tuesday night.
Frank Lampard’s side are the only team in the Championship who remain unbeaten so far this season in league action, and currently sit top of the second tier on 22 points.
Last season, Pompey secured a 4-1 victory after going one-nil down in PO4, with Callum Lang striking home all four goals in a standout performance.
Leicester: 1. Stolarczyk (GK), 21. Pereira (17. Choudhury), 3. Faes, 23. Vestergaard, 33. L. Thomas, 8. Winks, 6. James (24. Soumaré), 7. Fatawu, 30. Ramsey (9. Ayew), 28. Monga (14. De Cordova-Reid), 18. Carranza (20. Daka) (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 31. Begović (GK), 5. Okoli, 22. Skip, 39. S. Thomas
Goals: Ramsey 26’
Bookings: Pereira 3’
Manager: Martí Cifuentes
Portsmouth: 26. Bursik (GK), 2. Williams (24. Devlin), 5. Poole, 4. Knight, 3. Ogilvie,
7. Pack (C), 21. Dozzell, 47. Min-hyeok (11. Bianchini), 8. Swift (10. Segečić), 36. Chaplin, 9. Bishop (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 30. Killip (GK), 14. Matthews, 16. Le Roux, 18. Kosznovszky, 22. Swanson, 25. Kirk
Goals: Swift 58’
Bookings: Min-hyeok 71’
Head coach: John Mousinho
Referee: Farai Hallam
Venue: King Power Stadium
Attendance: 30,496 (including 3,300 Pompey fans)
Tonight's Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast, presented by Jake Smith and Kirsty Roxanne, is also available to listen back to.
Jake will return with The Football Hour on Monday (October 20th) evening from 6pm on Express FM with further reaction to the Blues' stalemate with Leicester City and a preview of Tuesday night's clash with Championship leaders Coventry City at Fratton Park.
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