Swansea City staged a spirited comeback to secure a 2-2 draw against Portsmouth at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Josh Key and Joe Allen returned to the starting XI, with Kyle Naughton and Goncalo Franco dropping to the bench, as the rest of the team remained unchanged following the midweek win at Derby County.
The Swans found themselves 2-0 down after failing to clear their lines, allowing Matt Ritchie and Josh Murphy to take advantage with clinical finishes.
However, Swansea responded swiftly. Liam Cullen’s excellent cross forced Connor Ogilvie into an own goal just before halftime.
Cullen then scored early in the second half to bring the hosts level, as Swansea pushed hard for a winner in an end-to-end Championship clash.
Cullen, Jisung Eom, and Florian Bianchini all came close to completing the turnaround, but Portsmouth held on to share the points.
Luke Williams was left frustrated as the missed opportunities cost Swansea the chance to complete the comeback and take all three points.
“We should be able to score two goals at home and comfortably win a game. We have been good defensively, but if you don’t maintain your levels of concentration, and play with the levels of intensity and aggression it can be a big problem” – Williams said in his post-match reaction to the draw with Portsmouth.
Next Saturday the Swans travel to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town.
Team Lineups
Swansea City: Lawrence Vigouroux, Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling, Josh Tymon; Matt Grimes (captain), Joe Allen (Jisung Eom 64), Liam Cullen; Ronald (Azeem Abdulai 73), Myles Peart-Harris, Žan Vipotnik (Florian Bianchini 73).
Unused Substitutes: Jon McLaughlin, Jay Fulton, Gonçalo Franco, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Cyrus Christie, Kyle Naughton.
Portsmouth: Nico Schmid, Connor Ogilvie, Regan Poole, Marlon Pack (captain), Freddie Potts, Colby Bishop (Mark O’Mahony 52), Andre Dozzell, Josh Murphy (Paddy Lane 81), Terry Devlin, Matt Ritchie (Harvey Blair 67), Callum Lang.
Unused Substitutes: Jordan Archer, Christian Saydee, Tom McIntyre, Owen Moxon, Elias Sorensen, Abdoulaye Kamara.
Referee: Will Finnie
Attendance: 15,404 including 1,983 Portsmouth fans.
Match Highlights
Watch extended highlights of the Swans draw against bottom of the table Portsmouth at the Swansea.com stadium:
Feature Image Credit: Swansea City Football Club