10-man Portsmouth snatch a point from the jaws of defeat after a frustrating and frantic afternoon on the South Coast.
Andre Dozzell’s 88th-minute equaliser was enough to cancel out Will Lankshear’s late goal, which appeared at the time as it may have been the winner.
Despite Connor Ogilvie being dismissed 17 minutes in, Portsmouth showed character and determination to make sure it was not a 5th straight defeat at Fratton Park.
There were 2 changes to the side that drew 1-1 at away Norwich City on Good Friday.
In came Keshi Anderson to Millenic Alli, as well as Conor Shaughnessy for Madiodio Dia at the back.
John Mousinho’s side implemented a fast start from the get-go and were rewarded for their effort early on.
Oxford nearly put the ball in their own net when Gustavo Caballero's cross hit the leg of Ciaron Brown and bounced off the outside of the post.
Then 9 minutes in, Colby Bishop teed up Anderson, who struck the down the throat of Jamie Cumming’s goal to make it 1-0.
Moments later, Ogilvie was sent off when he challenged Stanley Mills on the left byline, with referee Josh Smith and his linesman deciding to award the Pompey number 3 a straight red card.
HALF-TIME: Portsmouth 1-0 Oxford United
It was a fast start by the visitors in the second half, when the Everton academy graduate - Mills fired a shot across Nicolas Schmid’s goal, but the Austrian spilled the ball onto Brodie Spencer, who made it 1-1.
Spencer, who was already on a yellow card, had a close shave when he denied Terry Devlin the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity, but he was cautioned and swiftly subbed off for Przemysław Płacheta.
Matt Bloomfield’s side then took the lead when Michał Helik’s ball to the back-post was met by the diving head of Lankshear, who made it 1-2 with just under 10 minutes to go.
However, Pompey did not back down and fired a response with three minutes of normal time remaining, when sub - Alli set up Dozzell on the edge of the six-yard box, who sliced the ball home to make it 2-2 and seal a point late on.
The U’s tried to regain their lead late on, with Will Vaulks’ long throw-in being the last movement of the afternoon, but Portsmouth comfortably cleared their lines before the full-time whistle.
FULL-TIME: Portsmouth 2-2 Oxford United
Next up: Its a 638-mile round-trip looms on Saturday for John Mousinho’s side, as Portsmouth travel to the Riverside Stadium to face promotion-chasing Middlesbrough in a 3pm kick-off.
Portsmouth: 1. Schmid (GK), 24. Devlin, 5. Poole, 6. Shaughnessy, 3. Ogilvie, 7. Pack (C), 21. Dozzell, 47. Caballero, 36. Chaplin (2. Williams) 37. Anderson (27. Alli), 9. Bishop (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 26. Bursik (GK), 8. Swift, 10. Segečić, 16. Le Roux 29. Blair, 40. Brown, 55. Dia
Goals: Anderson 9’, Dozzell 87’
Bookings: Ogilvie 17’ (red card), Dozzell 62’, Pack 64’
Head coach: John Mousinho
Oxford United: 1. Cumming (GK), 2. Long (24. ter Avest), 6. Helik, 3. Brown, 15. Spencer (7. Płacheta), 5. Konak (4. Vaulks), 8. Brannagan, 44. Peart-Harris (9. Harris), 33. Donley, 17. Mills, 27. Lankshear (Formation: 4-2-3-1)
Unused subs: 21. Ingram (GK), 16. Prelec, 32. Jeon Jin-Woo, 37. Makosso, 38. McDonnell
Goals: Spencer 48’, Lankshear 81’
Bookings: Spencer 59’, Vaulks 61’, Helik 78’
Head coach: Matt Bloomfield
Referee: Josh Smith
Venue: Fratton Park
Attendance: 20,357 (including 2,196 away fans)
Today's Pompey Live: Extra-Time podcast is now available to download and listen back to.
On Tuesday (April 7th) evening, Jake will be back with the next episode of The Football Hour and will be joined alongside 2 more Blues fans between 6-7pm on Express FM to provide further reaction to the game, including the post-match thoughts of Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho.
Comments
Add a comment