Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho delivered his verdict after their 1-0 win over Middlesbrough
John Mousinho admitted Portsmouth were ‘lucky’ to take all three points at Middlesbrough, but was delighted at how his players carried out the same old frustrating gameplan against Boro.
In a smash and grab, Mousinho’s Portsmouth won 1-0 at the Riverside courtesy of a 96th minute goal from Conor Chaplin. Bouncing in off the forward after a mishit effort, it was the visitors only shot on target all game.
But, much like the five sides before them to visit the Riverside and leave with something, Portsmouth got their rewards for a resolute performance in which they made life difficult for Boro despite all their possession, and defended their goal with real determination.
"We did get lucky today, let's be honest we got lucky,” Mousinho admitted after. “But that's something we just haven't had this season. It tends to be the case when you're down the bottom.
“It's an amazing result at this stage of the season. It's all about picking up points and we managed to do that today.
“If you're asking me about the result in isolation, we've come here to hopefully win the game and we've managed to do that in those circumstances, which was different to what we've been doing in recent weeks. It's a brilliant three points for us.”
Asked if it felt a bit smash and grab, he continued: “Yeah, I think so. It was a tight first half. Middlesbrough had a lot of the ball but we didn't concede too many chances.
“We tried to put more pressure on the ball in the second half. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Middlesbrough had a lot of chances from set-plays which we managed to throw our bodies on the line and there were some brilliant goal-line clearances.
“We've been sat here after games this season thinking how on earth have we not won that when the boot is on the other foot.
“Today we came to try and make it difficult for Middlesbrough, to try and keep it tight and snatch something at the end and ultimately we've managed to do it in the last kick of the game, which is perfect for us.”
While defeat felt undeserved for Boro, it was hard to make much a claim for them to have won anything more than a point from the game though. Like many sides before them, Pompey came with little attacking ambition, as they made themselves compact and tough to break down.
Offering the same old insight into his pre-match analysis and gameplan, Mousinho added: “First of all it's really difficult to prepare for a side like this. This Middlesbrough side are such a good team, they've been in the top two for 90% of the season.
“Brilliant attacking players, brilliant defensive players as well. They're so dangerous and that was part of the reason we set up as we did. We had to defend for long stages and get through some dark moments for the boys at the back.
“You have two options: are you going to go all out on the press and risk getting exposed behind, or are you going to be a bit more solid like we were today? But Middlesbrough still have good players that can pick you apart.
“Then there's the difficulty of knowing what shape and whether it's going to be a back three or four. So it's incredibly tough to prepare for. I watched the game against Millwall where they could have been 4-0 up at half-time and the game changed in the second half on a set-piece.
We wanted to try and make it as frustrating as possible. It's not what I love to do but you come away against a side as good as Middlesbrough, we have to kill the game a little bit, we have to slow things down and take our time with things like throws and all that sort of thing.
“It's not the beautiful game but when you play a side as good as Middlesbrough you have to do it.”
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