Adrian Segecic's debut goal was enough to secure victory for the Blues on the opening day of the 2025/26 Championship season.
Pompey kickstart their Championship campaign with a win away at Oxford, securing maximum points in matchday 1 in the second tier for the first time since 2002.
Despite Oxford causing threats late on, Portsmouth stayed resilient and managed to see out a second consecutive Championship win at the Kassam Stadium, with Mousinho’s unbeaten run against the side he retired at to become Pompey head coach two and a half years ago being stretched to six games, with half of those being victories.
Before kick-off, there were some head scratchers, with Josh Murphy not being named in the squad, with it being confirmed that number 23 picked up a minor hamstring injury that required a scan, in last week's 1-0 win in a pre-season friendly against PEC Zwolle.
Marlon Pack was also left out of the squad, with Mousinho quoting that the club captain picked up a swollen knee after a behind-closed-doors friendly against Brighton Under-21’s last week.
Colby Bishop surprisingly led the line, despite the number 9 being reportedly out for 2-3 weeks with a groin injury, going on to play a full 90 minutes.
The first half was fairly even, with both sides causing threats down either half, but neither side was able to capitalise on a clear effort at goal.
Cameron Brannagan had the best chance before Segecic's opener, when he broke through on the left flank unmarked, before firing a shot at Nicolas Schmid, who parried the ball wide and out for a corner.
And then just five minutes before half-time, Colby Bishop was left one-on-one when a pass back to Elliott Moore was overshot, with Bishop capitalising with an interception, going on to smash the ball straight at U’s keeper Jamie Cumming, who made the save.
However, the ball kindly fell to the feet of Segecic, who curled the ball passed Cumming at his near-post to make it 1-0 to the Blues close to the interval and mark a first Championship goal for Australian attacker.
The U’s did have a penalty shout moments later after winger Stanley Mills went down in the area, but referee Dean Whitestone opted against pointing to the spot.
Segecic then came close, adding a second, when the former Sydney FC man found space outside the area, thumping an effort at goal, but Cumming tipped the ball over the bar.
Half-time: Oxford 0-1 Portsmouth
Stan Mills came close to an equaliser early into the second half when a supposed cross from the former Everton winger turned into a shot at goal, but Austrian keeper Schmid dived to the floor to push the ball out for a corner.
Segecic then almost made it two again, but the Blues number ten opted for firing a left-footed effort at goal which went over the bar, despite Bianchini being left completely unmarked inside the perimeters of the 18-yard-box, to which captain Bishop called the young Aussie out for.
Oxford did have the ball in the net an hour gone when Brannagan’s proposed shot smacked off the body of Jordan Williams, with the ball deflecting to the back post where Will Lankshear scored; however, the Tottenham Hotspur loanee’s goal was ruled out for offside.
It was then a debut for Spurs loanee Yang Min-hyeok, who only joined Pompey at midday on Friday, with the South Korean international coming on for Florian Bianchini with just over 20 minutes left on the clock.
The hosts made a triple sub at the same time, with captain Elliott Moore coming off for Hidde ter Avest, along with Jack Currie and Siriki Dembele coming on for Greg Leigh and Mark Harris.
John Mousinho made his second substitute of the afternoon with ten minutes to go, with Lang coming off for the versatile Terry Devlin to see out the closing moments of the opening day tie.
Zack Swanson was the third Blues sub of the day, with the right-back coming on for debutant John Swift in midfield, a position which Mousinho tested the former Arsenal man out in during pre-season.
The Yellows were able to make a sixth sub when Hidde ter Avest had a clash of heads with Terry Devlin, which meant that Tyler Goodrham could make way for Louie Sibley.
Adrian Segecic made way for fellow Aussie Thomas Waddingham, with the striker coming on for the only goal scorer of the afternoon ahead of the eight minutes of added time.
FULL-TIME: Oxford 0-1 Portsmouth
Next up: Despite the Championship season only just making a start, come Tuesday evening, attention will turn to the Carabao Cup for John Mousinho’s side, when they welcome Noel Hunt’s Reading in the First Round.
It will be an almost immediate return for former Pompey winger Paddy Lane, after the 2023/24 League One winner made the switch to The Royals just over two weeks ago for an undisclosed fee.
Can the Blues continue their momentum not just in League action? As they look to continue an unbeaten streak which stretches back to that late defeat to Coventry back in April.
Oxford United: 1. Cumming (GK), 15. Spencer, 5. Moore (C) (24. Ter Avest), 6. Helik, 22. Leigh (26. Currie), 4. Vaulks (20. Bradshaw) 8. Brannagan, 17. Mills, 19. Goodrham (39. O’Donkor) , 27. Lankshear (18. Sibley), 9. Harris (23. Dembele) (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 21. Ingram (GK), 2. Long, 10. Phillips
Bookings: Goodrham 64’, Mills 64’
Head Coach: Gary Rowett
Portsmouth: 1. Schmid (GK), 2. Williams, 5. Poole, 6. Shaughnessy, 3. Ogilvie, 8. Swift (22. Swanson), 21. Dozzell, 49. Lang (24. Devlin), 11. Bianchini (47. Min-hyeok), 10. Segečić (20. Waddingham), 9. Bishop (C) (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 30. Killip (GK), 14. Matthews, 16. Le Roux, 17. Bowat, 18. Kosznovszky
Goals: Segecic 38’
Bookings: Swift 41’, Ogilvie 63’
Head Coach: John Mousinho
Venue: Kassam Stadium
Referee: Dean Whitestone
Attendance: 11,492 (Including 1,490 Pompey fans)
You can listen back to the post-game reaction from Oxfordshire, where Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson were reporting on Portsmouth’s victory.
Jake Smith and 2 more Blues fans will be on air from 6pm on Monday (August 11th) on Express FM with even more reaction to today’s game and a preview of the next.
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