Pompey reserves, again a youthful looking one at that, were beaten 2-0 at Villa last night.
Below is the report from The Pompey Site…
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VILLANS STEAL THE POINTS
Aston Villa Reserves 2 Pompey Reserves 0
A super strike in each half saw a youthful Pompey Reserve side slip to a second-successive defeat at Villa Park.
Barry Bannan and Chris Herd got the goals, while Guy Whittingham’s Blues only really had one genuine scoring chance.
The hosts looked to attack right from the kick-off and Asmir Begovic was forced to make a smart save to deny Dominik Hofbauer.
But Pompey had a good chance of their own on four minutes. Paris Cowan-Hall’s shot from outside the box was heading for the net until Andy Marshall’s fingertips somehow diverted the ball onto the underside of the crossbar.
Begovic then showed safe hands to keep out Nathan Delfouneso’s header as Aston Villa began to apply some pressure.
Pompey’s keeper was not being caused too many problems, although he did brilliantly on 26 minutes to tip Herd’s shot around the post.
But on 33 minutes, the impressive Bannan conjured up a moment of magic to break the Blues’ resistance.
Gautier Mahoto had gifted Villa possession inside his own box, but Bannan still had to beat three players and showed some superb skill before driving the ball home.
Cowan-Hall tried to draw Pompey level just before the interval but the bounce of the ball was unkind to him and he could only blaze high over the crossbar.
Half Time: Aston Villa 1 Pompey 0
A great cross-field pass by Bannan created an opening for Andreas Weimann early in the second half, but his shot cleared the bar.
Pompey were doing a better job at keeping Villa confined to their own half, but were failing to create any scoring opportunities.
And the hosts effectively sealed victory on 74 minutes when Herd curled home a beautiful strike from outside the box.
Begovic prevented Villa from extending their lead further late in the game, diving low to his left to deny Delfouneso.
Pompey: Begovic; Ryan, Wilkinson, Mantyla, Sowah; Hurst, Mahoto, Stockford; Cowan-Hall (M.Smith 65), Nlundulu; Subotic (Ciftci 46)
Subs not used: O’Brien, Goddard, du Chattelier
Aston Villa: Marshall, Lichaj, Clark, Baker, Lowry, Albrighton (McGurk 89), Herd, Weimann (Williams 83), Hofbauer (Collins 78), Bannan, Delfouneso
Subs not used: Roome, Parish
Referee: Mr D. Mohareb
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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