Portsmouth are out of the EFL Cup following a loss on penalties to Peterborough United at Fratton Park. John Mousinho was pleased with the second half, but not the first.
The home side started the game on the front foot but couldn’t maintain their fast start.
Posh gained the lead after 29 minutes through David Ajiboye and dominated the majority of the first half.
Nine of the away team’s 11 shots came in the first half, showing their second half drop off.
Pompey dominated the second half levelling the score through Christian Saydee, just six minutes into the second 45.
Eight minutes later Charlie O’Connell received his marching orders after a second yellow card.
This seemingly left the tie in the home side’s hands.
15 shots in the second half alone wasn’t enough to get that elusive second goal to put Pompey through.
The game went to penalties where Portsmouth’s bad luck continued as Darren Ferguson’s side came through to win 5-4.
Despite a second half onslaught, it wasn’t enough for Pompey to push themselves through.
What has John Mousinho said?
A cup run can be great for morale and allow players lacking in minutes to get some game time.
As a result of this it was a disappointment for the manager to be out: “We’re obviously disappointed not to be in the hat for the next round of the competition.”
It was like watching two different teams in each half which can be good, but Pompey need more consistency.
Mousinho reflected on this: “To be really clichéd, it was a game of two halves and we looked a bit lethargic and tepid before the break.
“But we were completely different afterwards and it was like watching a different team – we were at it from the start.”
The second half performance was encouraging: “I thought we deserved to win for the way we played in the second half.”
Despite this, a defeat is still a defeat. Something which wasn’t lost on the Pompey boss: “There were plenty of near misses and we do need to be better in those areas in order to finish teams off.”
A repeat of the second round, but in the league next, with Peterborough back at Fratton Park at the weekend.