A first half Barry Bannan free kick, followed by a second half strike from George Brown on his league debut, secures Sheffield Wednesday their first league victory of the season.
Despite the Blues having chances in the second half, John Mousinho’s side were unable to claw the game back to a draw, let alone a consolation.
John Mousinho made two changes to the side that drew 0-0 at St Mary’s last Sunday, with Ben Killip coming in for the injured Nicolas Schmid from the start, and Florian Bianchini coming on for Josh Murphy, who was not in today’s matchday squad.
The Fratton faithful joined in with the away fans’ ovation in protest of their owner; however, that caused a distraction for the Blues players on the field, who gave away a free kick in a dangerous position.
The set piece was perfect territory for specialist Barry Bannan, who stepped up to the ball before smashing it home past Ben Killip, who could only watch the ball fly into the bottom left-hand corner to put Wednesday 1-0 up just 12 minutes gone.
30 minutes in and Pompey had a chance to equalise when Connor Ogilvie overlapped Bianchini on the left wing, but the full-back’s attempted cross into the area was comfortably blocked by 18-year-old defender Ernie Weaver.
The ball did find itself back into the 18-yard box eventually after the block, when it found Adrain Segečić, but the Australian attacker’s attempt on goal hit the side netting of Ethan Horvath’s goal.
HALF-TIME: Portsmouth 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Mousinho made 2 changes at the interval, with Zack Swanson coming off for defender Josh Knight, who made his Pompey debut, pushing centre-back Regan Poole out to right-back, and Luke Le Roux coming on for John Swift in midfield.
It did not take The Owls long into the second half to double their lead, and they did so in quite unfortunate circumstances for Pompey, in an attack which saw defender Conor Shaughnessy tear his hamstring in his attempt to stop the break on goal.
The Irish defender felt the back of his leg go when he was running after George Brown, who was then left one-on-one with Killip after the lineswoman and referee Ruebyn Ricardo allowed play to carry on, before the 19-year-old striker smashed the ball past Killip’s to make it 2-0 just 50 minutes gone.
Shaughnessy was withdrawn after the second goal for Aussie defender Hayden Matthews, who made his first league appearance since March vs Queens Park Rangers, after he damaged his ankle ligament that required surgery in that game.
Pompey Wembley hero in 2019, Jamal Lowe came on for Brown with twenty minutes to go, while Adrain Segečić was replaced by Mackenzie Kirk, who today made his Portsmouth debut.
Márk Kosznovszky was the 5th and final sub made by Mousinho, with the Hungarian midfielder being subbed on for Andre Dozzell, with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.
There were an additional 6 minutes of added time, with Portsmouth having multiple chances, notably from crosses into the area to at least pull a goal back, but it was simply not to be for the Blues.
FULL-TIME: Portsmouth 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
Next up: It’s a trip to Suffolk for John Mousinho’s side next Saturday, when the Blues visit Portman Road to face Ipswich Town in a 3 pm kick-off.
The Tractor Boys have had a mixed start in their first season back in the second tier after being relegated from the Premier League last season, with one win, 1 defeat, and 3 draws in five games, currently occupying 17th place on 6 points.
There will be no Connor Chaplin for Pompey, with the agreement made to sign the playmaker in the summer, had a clause that the 28-year-old could not play against his parent club, where he has just a year left on his deal at and a recall option in the January window.
Can Pompey get back to winning ways? Against a side who today had their fixture away at Blackburn Rovers abandoned on the 80th minute due to weather conditions, in a game that Kieran McKenna’s side were 1-0 down in.
Portsmouth: 30. Killip (GK), 22. Swanson (4. Knight), 5. Poole, 6. Shaughnessy (14. Matthews), 8. Swift, 21. Dozzell (18. Kosznovszky), 8. Swift (16. Le Roux), 10. Segečić (25. Kirk), 36. Chaplin, 11. Bianchini, 9. Bishop (C) (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 26. Bursik (GK), 2. Williams, 7. Pack, 24. Devlin
Bookings: Swanson 45’
Head coach: John Mousinho
Sheffield Wednesday: 24. Horvath (GK), 6. Iorfa, 30. Weaver, 3. M. Lowe, 2. Palmer, 7. Valery, 10. Bannan (C), 8. Ingelsson (4. Fusire), 12. Amass, 29. Brown (9. J. Lowe), 18. Cadamarteri (11. Ugbo)
Unused subs: 25. Stretch (GK), 17. McNeill, 22. Otegbayo, 33. Alao, 37. Thornton, 41. Onukwuli
Goals: Bannan 12’, Brown 50’
Bookings: Cadamarteri 17’, Valery 45’, Horvarth 62’, Iorfa 65’, M. Lowe 79’
Manager: Henrik Pedersen
Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo
Venue: Fratton Park
Attendance: 20,225 (including 2,001 Sheffield Wednesday fans)
Today's Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast has been uploaded if you would like to hear the post-match assessment of the panel, which consisted on this occasion of Jake Smith, Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson.
You can also join Jake Smith and 2 more Blues supporters for further reaction to Pompey's defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the next instalment of The Football Hour, this coming Monday (September 22nd) evening from 6pm on Express FM.
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