'Bizarre, surreal, mad': Portsmouth boss John Mousinho on the craziest finale he's ever seen after Charlton drama
The Blues’ head coach was stunned after he went from agony to ecstasy as his side beat Charlton in dramatic circumstances
Shell-shocked John Mousinho reflected on a stunning Pompey finale and admitted: It feels a bit surreal.
The Blues were heartbroken when Charlton substitute Harvey Knibbs levelled in the 96th minute to earn what appeared to be a point for the visitors.
However, the drama wasn’t over, with Pompey charging up the other end to register a 98th-minute winner through Minhyeok Yang with the last kick of the game.
It was a priceless 2-1 victory for Mousinho’s men, who climbed out of the Championship relegation zone as a consequence.
And a truly stunning way to extend an encouraging four-match unbeaten run which has now yielded eight points.
Portsmouth boss: It was such a bizarre end to the game
Mousinho told The News: ‘I definitely haven’t been involved in a game like that, I don't think I’ve even seen one, to be honest. It was such a bizarre end to the game, it just feels a bit surreal.
‘The swings were huge. I thought we had weathered the storm and done enough to win the game. We ticked over the 95-minute mark and I knew there was going to be a bit of extra-time because of the yellow card we took for time-wasting, but I thought that was it.
‘We then gave away a really sloppy free-kick and that was the most concerning thing. But Minhyeok gave the free-kick away and then came down the other end and did that. It still probably hasn’t quite sunk in how bizarre the end of the game was.
‘It’s probably the first time this year that I look at the game and think maybe we got a bit of a rub of the green to pick up the three points.
‘Every other time we’ve won a game, we thoroughly deserved to do it. I’m not saying we didn’t deserve to win, but I thought it was really, really tight.
‘Fair play to them, our lads were on the deck, naturally so much disappointment. I would have much preferred to win it 1-0 - but the next best is to have a mad finish like that.’
Shaughnessy’s goal-scoring return
Following a dreadful first half, the game burst into life on 69 minutes, when substitute Conor Shaughnessy broke the deadlock with a header from Adrian Segecic’s corner.
The centre-half, who returned following a 101-day absence with a hamstring injury, netted just five minutes following his introduction - and it seemed as though it would be the match winner.
However, despite five minutes of time added-on indicated by referee Paul Tierney, there would be two further goals beyond that.
Thankfully Pompey grabbed the decider to leap above Oxford United and leave the relegation zone heading into the New Year.
‘The performance levels were nowhere near Boxing Day’
Mousinho added: ‘I don’t really know how to sum it up, unless you were here it’s very difficult to.
‘The points were really important, though. The performance in large parts was solid, steady, we did some good things, we did some poor things.
‘The performance levels were nowhere near where we were on Boxing Day, where I thought we were very, very good, but didn't take all three points.’