Portsmouth 3 Millwall 1: Jordan Cross' verdict as tempest abates and ‘proper Pompey’ remind themselves who they are
The storm clouds were brewing through Pompey’s Championship struggles, ahead of Millwall. Jordan Cross reports as John Mousinho helps the Blues rediscover who they are amid the late-autumn Fratton rain.
It was an identity crisis threatening to totally derail Pompey’s campaign.
Like a book who’d lost its author, the Blues were headed into the rump of the season searching for inspiration and a sense of self missing through a Championship narrative which had taken an alarming plot twist.
A tempest was brewing amid six winless games, a single success in 11 and home form which had seen fan patience start to wear thin in a manner not remotely witnessed in John Mousinho’s Fratton tenure, even through a single second-tier victory in the first 14 games last term.
The international break had provided a period of introspection, with questions quite rightly asked over where the focus lay for the struggles of a group looking ill-equipped to deal with demands of what is to come.
Yet, through a Fratton rainstorm which offered a fitting platform for a Mousinho side to showcase the qualities which have become the hallmark of his formative management career, Pompey found all the right answers.
And it might just prove to be the defining moment of the 2025-26 campaign.
‘A proper Pompey performance’, was how the architect succinctly, yet fittingly, framed a critical victory. We all knew exactly what he meant.
At the outset, however, there were plenty who were fearful over what may emerge, especially when phones scrolled to the team news at 1.45pm. Five changes were implemented, as Mousinho made good on his promise to shake things up in the hunt for that elusive winning formula.
In the final reckoning he played down the size of his stake, as he handed an underwhelming Florian Bianchini his first minutes in over a month. Then there was a maiden home league start for a player still clearly coming to terms with English football, in Mark Kosznovszky.
By any fair assessment these were hefty punts, ones which would have been framed as reckless gambles if the outcome was not what Mousinho’s eyes told him was on the cards in training.
For all of their Fratton difficulties, Mousinho’s side faced another high-flying foe who afforded them the respect of changing their formation as they arrived at PO4. It meant another defensive blanket for the division’s third lowest scorers to attempt to penetrate, but it was a task they attacked with vigour.
Pompey operated with the kind of intensity seen in their best moments since arriving back in the Championship, firing into tackles, pressing with purpose and playing the conditions adeptly.
If the fanbase were privately having their doubts they weren’t showing it, as they fiercely responded to their side winning second balls and individual scraps.
No one better epitomised those qualities than Terry Devlin, as he smashed into a 22nd-minute challenge to turn the ball over and feed Josh Murphy. Millwall’s hesitancy was palpable as they stood off Pompey’s star man, yet it was Zak Swanson who sprinkled star dust on the afternoon with a howling 20-yard drive he’ll struggle to better across the rest of his footballing days.
Within the confines of the 4-2-3-1 formation which has served Mousinho well for the majority of his first 34 months in management, there was a welcome familiarity about his side’s play.
With Murphy’s elevated standards, Bianchini’s honest energy and Adrian Segecic returning at a level which suggested little of his buzzing electricity had been lost to four weeks out, Pompey welcomed meaningful pace back into their group.
The ability to run beyond Colby Bishop with that danger was significant, a menace for opposing defences glaringly absent for much of the season.
That searing threat on the counter-attack multiplied with Callum Lang’s return just after the hour mark, the Scouser’s front-footed single-mindedness welcomed like a warming hot toddy amid the late-autumn chill. Within five minutes of his introduction had been claimed as his first victim, a Joe Bryan dismissal following as his lunge on halfway halted Lang’s full-throttle breakaway.
By that time Murphy’s incision through Millwall defence had paved the way for Pompey’s second, as his penetrative assist opened the visitors for Adrian Segecic to fire home. The Championship’s dubious goals’ panel will surely decree Tristan Crama’s nick on the ball won't rob the Sydney Cyclone of his fourth goal of the season.
If we thought 10 men and a two-goal advantage would be enough to ease anxiety, we were of course mistaken. Pompey’s set-piece Achilles heel saw Milhailo Ivanovic drift away from Andre Dozzell, his finish giving Millwall hope with 18 minutes left.
That was extinguished in the most spectacular and unlikely manner imaginable, however, with a minute of normal time left.
It was Jordan Williams who hungrily turned the ball over in his own half and aquaplaned through the visitors, before rifling in a 20 yarder which was will go down as his first and best Pompey goal, no matter how many more finishes he adds to his Fratton tally.
It meant the Blues could exalt their team toying with the opposition as they hit their first three-goal return at PO4 for 11 months, recording their first success with daylight over their opponent this term in the process.
More importantly it offers a significant landmark in the season, one, as skipper Marlon Pack noted, which holds parallels with the turning-point victory over Preston North End this time last year.
Back then the same 3-1 scoreline kick-started Pompey’s departure into a pace-driven counter-attacking Championship force. Twelve months on, this now has be where the moment where ‘proper Pompey’ remembered who they are.