View: Portsmouth show fearlessness that not many predicted in first half v Leeds United
Portsmouth lead Leeds United at Elland Road at half-time.
One thing is for sure, absolutely no-one saw this coming after a quarter of an hour, by which point Leeds led through Pascal Struijk’s penalty and had astonishingly hit the woodwork three times.
But an opportunity to regroup was swiftly taken and Pompey grew in comfort, equalising through debutant Elias Sorensen before Callum Lang hit a howitzer past Illan Meslier to give the visitors a shock lead.
Having stunned West Yorkshire, John Mousinho’s men did predictably have their backs to the wall, but the fearlessness shown on the road in League One has reared itself again in the Championship and could give the Blues a real shout here.
Portsmouth take their chances in first half
The travelling Portsmouth fans at Elland Road in this early afternoon clash – some of whom had missed a portion of the first half due to public transport cancellations – viewed this opening fixture as something of a free hit.
The game is one of the first seven which have been identified as a baptism of fire back in the second tier – Andy Moon of BBC Radio Solent described the opening schedule as “brutal” [1 July] – and the general consensus is that around 10 points from the seven would be satisfactory.
But if there was one way to gauge Portsmouth’s confidence, it’s that they lead against the run of play at half-time through a stunning Lang hit, that doesn’t get so much as attempted if there is no belief running through the team.
Mousinho has got everyone singing from the same hymn sheet and although Leeds were always going to dominate proceedings, Will Norris and the defence have been alert to most of the danger and have contributed just as equally to Pompey’s lead at the interval.
We wait to see what develops in the second half, but that 100 per cent graft will remain and that is a certainty.
In other Portsmouth news, a loan spell for one of the club’s youngsters.
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