‘A terrible Portsmouth team’: Former Pompey defender offers brutal verdict after Burnley stalemate
Pompey played out a goalless draw against Burnley on Saturday,
Former Pompey and Burnley defender David Unsworth felt John Mousinho’s troops were ‘terrible’ in a surprise remark after their goalless draw against the Clarets.
But the 53-year-old, who played 19 times during a year-long Fratton Park stay, was adamant Marlon Pack’s disallowed goal should’ve stood at Turf Moor.
The Blues extended their unbeaten run in the Championship to five matches, with a point on the road against Fabio Celestini’s side on Saturday.
The Blues, though, didn’t register a shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes, but did have a goal controversially ruled out 13 minutes in.
Former Pompey defender’s strong Blues call
And Unsworth, who was on co-commentary for BBC Radio Lancashire, was disappointed the Clarets weren’t able to put a ‘really, really poor’ Pompey side to the sword.
Speaking after the draw, he said: ‘That was a great opportunity for them (Burnley) to win a game of football against a terrible Portsmouth team.
‘A really, really poor Portsmouth team, who offered nothing going forward, were giving the ball away endlessly and that performance tells me Burnley are in a lot of trouble.
‘I think you’re being generous saying it was a poor game, it was a contender for the worst game I’ve ever seen. It’s right up there and I'm not even joking.
‘It was awful. Both teams gave the ball away time after time. A real lack of final third action, a real lack of any quality.
‘We’ve had the most appalling miss, arguably one of the misses of the season from Marcus Edwards, we’ve seen Edwards then get substituted after an act of petulance that he didn’t get a free kick. To be fair to the manager subbed him off within 10 seconds of that.
‘That performance tells me that Burnley are in a real relegation scrap and they’re right in the middle of it.’
Verdict on goal controversy in Pompey’s draw at Burnley
However, referee Ruebyn Ricardo controversially ruled out the strike after adjudging Ryan Kavuma-McQueen to have fouled Burnley keeper Gregoire Coudert in the build-up.
And that is the opinion of Unsworth, who believes Burnley ‘got away with it’.
‘Portsmouth, who were very workman-like, offered very little.
‘They should’ve had a goal in the first half and the referee thankfully gave a free kick for the goalkeeper, who came flapping out. The Portsmouth guy (Marlon Pack) then chipped it into the back of the net.
‘It was a goal. It was a clear-cut goal and Burnley got away with it.’