Chapter 1: What are the latest updates on Portsmouth's performance?
The latest Pompey news updates every day from the Pompey Sound News Desk.
Andre Brooks scored a last-minute winner for Sheffield United, who denied Portsmouth a valuable point in their fight for Championship survival. Pompey created numerous chances in the game at Fratton Park, but were left with nothing to show for their performance, after Brooks' close-range finish.
Both sides threatened to break the deadlock in an entertaining first half, with Gustavo Hamer hitting the woodwork for the Blades before Pompey's Colby Bishop had a goal ruled out. Numerous opportunities presented themselves at both ends after the interval, with Brooks eventually coming up with the 90th-minute winner for Chris Wilder's side.
Still, it took a double save from Blades goalkeeper Michael Cooper in the sixth minute of stoppage time to deny Milenicalli a late leveller. The result moved Sheffield United up to 15th in the table and to within six points of the playoff places, while Portsmouth slipped to 21st, one spot from the drop zone.
Defeats for both sides in their previous games prompted changes for the tie at Fratton Park, with Calvin Phillips given his first start for the Blades after his loan arrival from Manchester City.
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Chapter 2: How did Sheffield United secure their last-minute victory against Portsmouth?
The closest his side went to breaking the deadlock in the first half was Hammer's 15th-minute shot from a tight angle that hit the foot of the post. And while Pompey's Bishop managed to find the back of the net from close range soon after, home fans were left incensed when their celebrations were cut short after the finish was ruled out because of a foul in the build-up.
The decision only added to Pompey's frustrations in a first half in which Adrian Sejekic and Zach Swanson tested Blades' keeper Cooper. John Swift and Ali threatened for the hosts in the second half, while Patrick Bamford called Nicola Schmid into action and Brooks sent an effort just wide at the other end.
As the game was seemingly heading towards a stalemate, Tyrese Campbell did well to squeeze across to the back post for Brooks to score his fourth goal in five games to win it for the visitors. This one was very simple. For the second game in a row, we was robbed.
Chapter 3: What were the key moments in the first half of the match?
We deserved, at the very least, a point. Actually, I think we deserved two points. I know that they don't do that, but sometimes, you know, you draw, but it's a moral victory. And we were so much the better side for the first 45 and for the second half of the second half that two points would have been justified. Three points...
Yeah, I don't think they'd have had too much to argue about if we'd nicked it. But we didn't nick it. They nicked it. Let's hear what John Massino has to say.
Yeah. I'm really disappointed with the result. I thought the performance was really good for the most part, particularly in the first half. Apart from the goal, the way we ended the game, there was probably a spell in the second half where I thought Sheffield United got on top of it and we made a couple of changes to try and counter that.
Ultimately, it's a really difficult one to digest because I'm scratching my head as to how we lost the game. We should have come away with at least a point and then, to be honest, I thought we should have won it. I thought we looked organised, looked front footed, we created plenty.
The big disappointment was that when we got into those goal scoring moments we slashed at the ball or maybe made the wrong decision.
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Chapter 4: How did the second half unfold for both teams?
A couple of clearances off the line and a couple of wayward finishes so it was just about doing a bit more of that in the second half and we had plenty of opportunities. We did have chances to go and do it and we didn't manage to. Yeah, it's obviously not all about shots. It's about the quality of the shots as well. And I thought today the chances, the areas we got into were excellent.
We had some good opportunities in the first half and the second half as well. There were quite a few, particularly on the left-hand side, where I think we should have done a little bit better. So, yeah, that's something that we need to improve upon very, very quickly. Yeah, it looked like I think Ibu was through and just maybe clipped the Sheffield United defender.
It's one of those, I think if it happened at the other end, we'd be asking for the foul. I think that for the first 15, 20 minutes, I thought the momentum was with the away team. I don't think there was anything particularly to do with any tactical change, although obviously they brought O'Hare on for Cannon.
It was more to do with the fact that in certain moments we just weren't dominating those battles and coming out with the first and the second balls like we had in the first half. I think the best chance, Bamford's best chance, came from just a free kick that we switched off.
It was just a case of trying to get a bit of calmness into the game and I thought we did that from about the 70th minute onwards and I thought we looked a really good side and to be honest it's just the goal at the back end that's the absolute hammer blow. I think we dealt with it very well so that's why we wanted to make the changes.
I hope most goals are preventable but this one we had a free kick, we had a free kick in their half and we had three chances I think to go and win the second balls on the break and we didn't do it so just not locked off well enough from our own set piece unfortunately. I think there's plenty of positives.
We've got to keep going in terms of the way that we're playing and then add something at the front end of the pitch to make sure we actually put the ball in the back of the net. And in those moments where we have the chance, like we did against Preston at the weekend, when we've got the chance to properly defend, we've just got to be a little bit better in those moments.
There was chance after chance for Pompey during a dominant first half showing against Sheffield United at Fratton Park. But despite being roared on by the home faithful, they were unable to turn the pressure applied into any goals. And it came back to haunt the Blues when their opponents struck a winning goal through Andre Brooks in the 90th minute.
John Swift admitted that it was a frustrating afternoon for Pompey, as he felt they produced an otherwise encouraging display. He said, It's very disappointing and the way we played, especially in the first half, meant the very least we deserved was a point. To concede like that right at the very end from our own set-piece was gut-wrenching, having had so many opportunities to score ourselves.
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Chapter 5: What were the post-match reactions from the players and coaches?
Swanson was down because he felt he had been hit, or at least there had been an impact, and he wanted it checked out because we all have to look after our heads. So that's what happened there. But John Messina was absolutely not mincing any words when he said that the guy should have been sent off. They wanted the red card. Also, that disallowed goal of Colby Bishop's.
This is what John Messina has to say about that.
It looked like a good goal for me at the time, but watching it back, if it had happened in the other box, I would have been asking for that. I'd need to see it properly because we've got the wide angle footage on the bench, but I'd need to see the sky footage.
Yeah, it is one of those ones where if it had gone against you, you disputed the decision. But if it had been for you, then the referee got it right. There's plenty of those in football. But this is a goal. And a goal is a big deal, obviously. In the context of that game, that goal would have been huge. And it would have been doubly huge for Colby Bishop. to be getting his tally back on track.
So it was very unfortunate that the referee decided that he'd seen something or more likely he suspected something from what he was able to see and without VAR and without the assistant referee able to help him in any way for whatever reason, possibly because he was unsighted, he decided that the safest thing to do was to disallow, and generally speaking, refs tend to do that.
But he disallowed it for something which, when he looks back at it, and refs obviously look at their performance probably over and over again, you know, it's now Sunday, he'll probably be looking at it now with his Sunday roast at his side in his study or wherever he does it on his computer, and he'll be looking at it until he goes to work on Monday morning.
because that decision could be the reason why he doesn't quite get the report that he hoped for as far as Pompey are concerned. Because we at Pompey Sound are pretty clear, it was a goal and it should have stood.
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