On reflection this was a good point for Pompey away from home at The King Power Stadium, their away form this season has not been good.
If only Pompey had kept their concentration and discipline better at the set-piece from which they conceded so soon after taking the lead.
Pompey made two changes from the Boxing Day defeat against Millwall, bringing in Aaron Mokoena for the injured Ricardo Rocha and Marko Futacs for Erik Huseklepp, who dropped to the bench.
At times Pompey played some good football against a team that was well fancied at the start of the season to fill one of the two automatic promotion spots.
But for the second time this season we witnessed two teams that were pretty well matched.
Leicester do not look anywhere near to being promotion candidates, surprising when you consider the money spent and see the players available to them; the bench looked strong.
Playing Futacs and Kitson up-front gave Pompey a much better balance. I'm not sure the formation was 4-4-2, perhaps more 4-4-1-1.
Whatever the formation, Futacs added an extra dimension to Pompey's play up front and Michael Appleton's decision to bring him in to the team looks a shrewd and sensible one. He does labour a bit when moving around the pitch, he's no thoroughbread, however he holds up the ball really well, he causes defenders problems with his height and he has a powerful shot on him as we saw here!
Just a few words about Pompey skipper Liam Lawrence. He's been in and out of the team with injuries and suspensions this season and hasn't looked fully match fit for quite some time. The best description would be 'off the pace'. In my view this was his best performance in a Pompey shirt this season. He worked hard and got a full 90 minutes under his belt. Let's hope he keeps it up.
The only real downside from this game for Pompey was Halford and Ward picking up bookings that will see them miss the Bank Holiday Monday match against Watford.
Appleton hinted in his post-match interview with BBC Radio Solent at how he has tried to clear-up Pompey's ill-discipline on the pitch and on the whole I'd say things have improved. However, you reap what you sow and the early season bookings have come back to hit Pompey hard, something that really should have been avoided with such a small squad of players.
Oh well, Pompey are where they are, nothing can be done now. Perhaps this will give someone else a chance to show their worth as Futacs did on this occasion.
Notes From The Match
I watched this match on Sky TV. Here are the notes I made during the game and a few pictures I took too of the TV (LOL!).
1st minute - Pompey had an early throw-in down the right hand side won by Joel Ward which was taken by Aaron Mokoena, playing at right back, to Dave Kitson but it came to nothing.
3rd minute - with the referee (Mr Webster) waving play on (advantage Leicester) Schlupp had a left footed shot from outside of the penalty box for the home team which went wide of the upright.
5th minute - good work by Schlupp and King led to Mokoena putting the ball out for a corner which came to nothing as Bamba fouled Halford at the set-piece.
10th minute - Don Goodman, the TV summariser, commented that it had been a 'scrappy opening'. He was right.
13th minute - David Norris drove forward with the ball, after Marko Futacs was fouled in the middle of the field, again the referee played advantage, he passed to Ward who was unable to get in the cross.
14th minute - Futacs was fouled 30 yards from goal in a central position. Lawrence chipped the free kick that resulted towards the left hand side of the box but the ball was cleared.
16th minute - Joe Mattock let the ball go out, following an obvious looking deflection (on TV anyway!), and conceded a corner kick when perhaps he could have cleared it.
17th minute - Mattock found himself forward down the left hand side and played a good looking cross in to the box, Futacs dived for the ball but it was headed away from danger by Bamba.
18th minute - Joel Ward had a really wild shot from the left hand side of the pitch that was so bad it went out for a throw-in by the corner flag!
20th minute - Pompey open the scoring through Marko Futacs following excellent work down the left by David Norris, Leicester players were appealing for offside (he wasn't), he played in a good cross and the ball fell to Futacs to fire the ball home with a powerful shot past Schmeichel.
24th minute - the home team equalise through former Pompey player David Nugent, scoring his 8th goal of the season. It was poor marking by Pompey from a set piece free kick, Nugent got ahead of the defender (Halford) to head the ball home.
25th minute - Hayden Mullins drove a fierce shot at goal following a Pompey corner which was blocked, Ward played the ball back in to the box and Halford crashed a header against the upright at the far post.
29th minute - Konchesky and Schmeichel get themselves in to a muddle in their own box, Lawrence headed the ball over the defender but it was scrambled away for a Pompey corner kick.
37th minute - Pompey have a good counter attack which started with Kitson and Futacs. The ball fell to Ward whose shot was well saved by Schmichel and went for a corner, which came to nothing.
42nd minute - Schmeichel launched a long ball down field that landed at the feet of Nugent but with time to do more he produced a feeble kick and Stephen Henderson grabbed the ball.
43rd minute - Halford headed over the goal from a Pompey corner.
44th minute - Henderson made a good save from an Abe shot powerfully struck from outside the penalty box. Halford blocked a shot from the loose ball and Henderson eventually safely grabs the ball.
HT: Leicester City 1-1 Portsmouth
46th minute - the second half started in a lively fashion with Liam Lawrence firing off a shot at goal which was wll saved by Schmeichel. The ball found its way to the other end of the field and Henderson mae a good save from King after Nugent had cleverly dummied the ball.
47th minute - some good combination play between Mattock, Futacs and Norris saw Norris slice his shot horribly wide when you'd have expected him to get it on target.
49th minute - Mattock dinked the ball in to the box and Joel Ward's shot was fired over the bar. Another quick goal kick from Schmeichel tried to unleash Nugent but the ball went straight through to Henderson.
61st minute - Mullins was penalised for a foul in the middle of the pitch and Lawrence was booked for stupidly kicking the ball away after the whistle had gone.
62nd minute - Halford joined Lawrence (and Mokoena) in the referee's notebook for a silly trip on Nugent down the left hand side. A significant 5th booking of the season which means that he'll miss the game against Watford. From the free kick, a Leicester shot was blocked by Kitson to concede a corner. Mokoena cleared the ball for a throw-in from that set piece.
64th minute - some good passing by Pompey with Futacs as the fulcrum but all came to nothing.
70th minute - Pompey win a corner which came to nothing but then Mullins clipped the back of Schmeichel's heel as he attempted another quick release of the ball. The keeper required treatment for his injury.
75th minute - Mattock crossed in to the box but Kitson's header went wide of goal.
77th minute - Halford headed wide from a Pompey corner.
79th minute - Henderson punched the ball clear from a Leicester City corner and Lawrence fired the loose ball away to safety.
81st minute - Joel Ward becomes the second Pompey player to reach five bookings in this match. He will also miss the match against Watford.
85th minute - Kitson can't adjust his shape to get on to the ball properly from a Pompey corner kick and the ball is cleared away.
87th minute - another Pompey corner saw Marko Futacs called for offside.
88th minute - Henderson makes an excellent double save the first from Beckford and the second from King. The move started after Kitson lost the ball in the Leicester City half of the pitch.
89th minute - there was a big shout for a penalty for the home team as Mattock and tangled with a Leicester forward in the box but the referee got no signal from his assistant and play carried on.
93rd minute - Dyer fired a shot in to the side netting.
FT: Leicester City 1-1 Portsmouth
Portsmouth versus Leicester City: Stephen Henderson, Aaron Mokoena, Greg Halford, Jason Pearce, Joe Mattock, Joel Ward, David Norris, Hayden Mullins, Liam Lawrence (c), David Kitson and Marko Futacs. Substitutes not used: Jamie Ashdown, Hermann Hreidarsson, Ryan Williams, Erik Huseklepp and Benjani
Pompey MOTM: the Sky TV award went to Hayden Mullins.
Attendance: 25,356 (568 Pompey fans travelled to the match).
Source: www.portsmouthfc.co.uk for match information and Sky TV for the pictures.
Next Up For Pompey: Watford at Fratton Park on Monday 2nd January 2012 3PM kick-off.
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