Southampton vs Portsmouth stat attack: How Ebou Adams dominated and where Pompey fell short

Portsmouth fell short in yet another South Coast Derby defeat to Southampton on Sunday.

Misery continued for Pompey at St Mary's as a James Bree effort ultimately made all the difference.

Things should have been made easier for John Mousinho's side when Cameron Bragg was sent off before half time.

That wasn't the case in the end as chances from Colby Bishop, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic went begging.

It wasn't to be as the Saints secured yet another win in the derby to make it two wins and two draws since 2019.

The travelling Portsmouth fans certainly weren't happy with the performance as we assess the key talking points.

Why Ebou Adams was shining light vs Southampton

The midfield battle was always going to play a key role against the Saints.

It's fair to say that Ebou Adams did his utmost to dominate against the likes of Flynn Downes and James Ward-Prowse

The 30-year-old may have come off with 65 minutes gone, but made an impression in that time.

He maintained an 88 per cent pass accuracy and even aimed three of those into the final third.

That all adds to what was a stellar defensive showing as he put up two tackles, four clearances and nine duel wins.

His seven ground duels represents the most won on the pitch, while he followed that theme by being the most fouled player at St Mary's.

Adams dominated against Southampton, if only the same could be said about Bishop.

Colby Bishop must do more for Portsmouth

Saints keeper Daniel Peretz was only called into action three times on the day, with the Pompey striker bringing out one of those.

His header from six-yards out represented little trouble for the shot-stopper and was his only effort of the derby.

The 29-year-old had his issues summed up by him only taking 11 touches across 65 minutes, the least of anyone to have started the game.

He also completed the least passes of anyone to feature at all with two.

Bishop also kept up a zero per cent aerial duel win rate as his nightmare afternoon continued.

That was just one part of the forward line which represented the problems his side faced.

Portsmouth took 16 shots, but with just three of those going on targets, it shows how wasteful they were.

To sum everything up, creating just one big chance against 10-men is just not good enough and will certainly represent something that needs to change moving forward.