Pompey played in one of the strangest matches they could wish for tonight, the match officials were more bent than Graham Norton.
Paris Cowan-Hall was sent off for 2 ‘bookable’ offences, neither would of been bookings with a decent ref, and to rub his nose in it, he was brutally hacked down on more than one occasion with no Portugese getting even a talking to.
Cowan-Hall was adjudged to have given a penalty away and saw red for his offence, the pen was duly missed but Wilson headed the ball to a Guimares striker after to give away a soft goal.
David Nugent had put the ball in the net during the first period, another cool finish, but the referee was having none of that on his watch and ruled it out for offside, the way the match was officiated though, James or Begovic could of scored from a goal kick and been offside!
The second half also infuriated Paul Hart for another reason, Pompey tried to bring on John Utaka, but were told they were not allowed, only for Guimares to change half their team at half-time and again whenever they fancied it!
Vitoria’s second goal summed it up really, one of their substitutes headed home to really wind up the Pompey bench.
Surely the idea of pre-season is all about match fitness, yet Pompey were denied the chance to field most of their players due to the absurd ruling, with Guimares getting a free-kick whenever they were challenged and Pompey getting punished for the most innocuous challenges, the reverse was true for the home side who were allowed to hack players down and get off scot-free.
Next up was a pointless penalty shoot-out, Pompey kept up with the theme of the night though and lost this as well!
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