Portsmouth v Millwall: Gareth Evans ‘can’t believe’ what he saw at Fratton Park
Portsmouth briefly got away with Millwall producing one of the “worst” misses “of the season” on Tuesday night, according to Gareth Evans.
Millwall star Raees Bangura-Williams diverted wide from point-blank range when he looked certain to give the Lions the lead against Pompey at Fratton Park, though the visitors took the three points eventually regardless courtesy of Mihailo Ivanovic’s winner.
The rearranged game ended in a 1-0 defeat to leave Pompey 21st in the Championship table – though former Blues midfielder Evans, live on Sky Sports+ (28 January, 19:49), rued the Millwall miss early on.
“I can’t believe he’s missed. Connolly gets past Swanson and into the box, and it’s a simple ball to the back post for Bangura-Williams with his right foot.
“He just has to tap it in and only he knows whether he takes his eye off the ball, there’s a bobble or what. You have to say it’s up there as one of the misses of the season.
“He’s not going to get a better opportunity for the rest of the season.”
Portsmouth must bounce back after home run ends
John Mousinho took a huge gamble when he rested five key Portsmouth players at West Brom last Saturday (25 January), with a first-half whitewash subjecting the Blues to a heavy defeat.
With a viewpoint among many at Fratton Park that the head coach was banking on continuing to rely on home form while taking more risks on the road, many returned against Millwall only to be beaten again.
It was the first PO4 defeat for Portsmouth since 25 October, when Sheffield Wednesday snatched a 2-1 win in a Friday night clash.
Pompey must dust themselves down quickly and while it wasn’t a dreadful performance like last weekend, it showed there are still deficiencies in the team that the transfer window could solve, and that home form cannot carry a team to guaranteed survival.
On a brighter note, Hayden Matthews made his debut for the Blues after joining from Sydney FC, and Conor Shaughnessy finally returned to action as he played the final 12 minutes in his first appearance since August.
In other Portsmouth news, Peter Storrie reveals his highlights from his time as chief executive at Fratton Park.
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