Pompey 1 City 2 – Carling Cup
This game summed up the best and worst of City this season. Only three players – Morrison, King and Dyer – had played in the QPR game and Sousa played virtually his second string. None of us had seen Vitor before and we appeared to have a new player, Teixeira, who turned out to be Moreno! I was particularly interested to see Abe, after the glowing reports of him, and he did not disappoint; I fully expect him to start on Friday as well – same place, same time, but a different competition. Apparently the team have stayed down in Portsmouth for this game, which seems a sensible decision. King was given the captain’s armband.
City started as brightly as their day-glo shirts and were in front as early as the third minute, after they could have taken the lead even earlier. As all the goals were scored in the end furthest from the City fans, we had to wait for the tannoy to tell us who had scored, Michael Morrison who picked up on a loose ball after a Dyer shot was saved by the keeper.
City looked comfortable for most of the first half although Logan came to their rescue on a few occasions, and in my opinion deserves to keep his place on Friday. Had we been playing a better team, I think the scoreline would have been very different. Kanu and Nugent both missed easy chances.….
The new boys slotted in well, with Kennedy in the right place to clear a goal-bound shot. Abe in particular caught the eye; apparently he sees himself as a defensive midfielder but some of his passing was exquisite. Frankly we could have scored a hatful of goals but the pressure was rewarded just before half-time by a goal from Dyer.
The second half was a different kettle of fish and it was backs to the wall stuff for long spells. What was really worrying was that the passing went to pieces and the players seemed unable to find a team-mate, putting further unnecessary pressure on themselves. It seemed it would only be a matter of time before Portsmouth equalised, despite Logan’s best efforts, which set up a nervy last few minutes.
I was sitting next to a City fan who is a senior referee and he was going ballistic at the players for the sloppy passing, which was totally unwarranted and which would have been punished by a better side. The sending off of Richard Hughes was a bit of a mystery, as no foul had been committed, but it transpired that he said something to the referee. Ironically, it had a positive effect on his team-mates and galvanised them into a storming end to the game; their goal was scored after they went down to ten men.
The worsening display showed up some problems. Although he may have been out of position, Gallagher was poor and one of the worst offenders in giving the ball away. Howard played his usual part but didn’t have a decent shot on goal. King was replaced by N’Guessen (with Morrison taking the armband), Gallagher by Wellens and Dyer by Moussa – the last in the time added on.
As an aside, I really don’t understand these very late substitutions, although I expect it has something to do with wasting a bit more time, and I would like a new rule to be introduced which states that no substitution can be made in the last ten minutes of a game. I realise this may lead to the situation Chelsea found themselves in on Wednesday, of having a player injured and no-one to replace him, but if a substitution were allowed for an injury we could have some farcical situations!
So we go on to the next round. Considering some of the results, such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton (who all lost) City have an excellent chance to progress in this competition. And then can we please win the FA Cup!
City: Logan; Lamey, Vitor, Morrison, Kennedy, Teixeira, King (c), Abe; Gallagher, Howard, Dyer.
Subs: Weale, Fryatt, Berner, N'Guessan, Wellens, Moussa, Hobbs
Portsmouth: Ashdown, Dickinson, Mokoena (c), Ritchie, Lawrence, Mullins, Nugent, Ward, Hughes, Sonko, Kanu.
Subs: Flahavan, Brown, Utaka, Kitson, Ciftci.
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation