Portsmouth let two-goal lead slip as they battle to nail-biting Swansea draw

Matt Ritchie’s maiden Blues finish and the electric Josh Murphy’s strike were cancelled out by Connor Ogilvie’s own goal and Josh Cullen’s leveller in Wales.

John Mousinho’s side were excellent in the first half, but found themselves under incessant pressure after the break.

The home side had a number of openings with Nicolas Schmid also producing a contender for save of the season.

But arguably the clearest chance of them all came to sub Christian Saydee, who rolled a tap-in wide as time ticked down.

Pompey will definitely take the point on balance, however, though the result keeps them bottom of the Championship.

It was the home side who set the early pace, with Joe Allen planting a free header wide in the seventh minute before Liam Cullen poked a chance just wide.

Pompey were settling into the game, however, and the breakthrough came in the 25th minute through Ritchie. It was Murphy who was the provider, turning Josh Key and crossing for the Gosport lad to show his determination and beat Josh Tymon to poke the ball home.

Former Blues loanee Myles Peart-Harris then header over from Tymon’s cross, before Mousinho’s side rode their luck with Key’s cross inches away from a tap-in for the Londoner.

There was late drama as Murphy took advantage of indecision from Ben Cabango to lift the ball over the defender and fire an unerring second behind Lawrence Vigouroux.

Pompey criminally couldn’t take the two-goal lead into the break, however, as Tymon’s cross was turned past his own keeper by Ogilvie under pressure from Peart-Harris.

The ball somehow stayed out of Pompey’s goal in the 51st minutes as Peart-Harris hit the bar and Nicolas Schmid superbly saved from Cullen before Key hit the woodwork from an offside position.

It was only a temporary let-off for the Blues, however, as Peart-Harris crossed for the unmarked Cullen to fire home the leveller three minutes later

Lang’s endeavour saw him win the ball in the box in the 65th minute, but the attacker dallies with Freddie Potts all alone in the box and the chance dissipates.

There was another let-off for Pompey four minutes later as Tymon crossed for Cullen in space again, but the Swansea man fired wide with the goal gaping.

Schmid then made an incredible reflex stop to deny Cullen from eight yards, with a save unlikely to be bettered this season.

There were two huge misses at both ends with time ticking down. First Bianchini screwed his shot wide when slipped in and then there was arguably an even bigger miss as Saydee rolled a tap-in wide from Ogilvie’s cross, with Harry Darling in close attendance.