'Let ourselves down' - Swansea City boss laments first-half performance vs Portsmouth as squad criticised

Swansea City manager Luke Williams admits his side were ‘made to pay’ for a lacklustre start in their 2-2 draw at home to Portsmouth.

Pompey might have taken a point at the improving mid-table Swans before kick-off but will return south disappointed, having thrown away a two-goal lead. Goals from Matt Ritchie and Josh Murphy looked to have sent the visitors into half-time 2-0 up but Connor Ogilvie’s unfortunate own-goal halved their advantage in first-half added-time.

Welsh international Liam Cullen levelled the score on 53 minutes and from that point, many expected Swansea to go on and win it. But they wasted a smattering of chances, with Pompey goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid throwing his hat in the ring for save of the season. Christian Saydee could have nicked a winner for John Mousinho’s side but his close-range effort rolled wide.

In the end, both sides were made to settle for a point each and Portsmouth frustration at throwing away the lead gave way to relief they could take a point from the Swansea.com Stadium. And home manager Williams cut a frustrated figure after full-time, questioning his side’s concentration during the first-half.

“If we had created a lot of chances, but only scored two goals and won then we would be quite happy,” Williams told Swansea’s website. “But that was not the problem, the problem we gave ourselves a two-goal deficit to overcome.

“We should be able to score two goals at home and comfortably win a game. We have been good defensively, but if you don’t maintain your levels of concentration, and play with the levels of intensity and aggression it can be a big problem.

“There are no excuses, these are professional players, they are outstanding at their best and we have to bring that every week. I am impressed with the resilience of the group to come back, but there are times we have let ourselves down with the way we have approached the game, or periods of game, and today we started the game poorly and paid for it.”

Victory would have pulled Portsmouth level on points with both Queens Park Rangers and Hull City in the relegation zone, but the draw leaves them rock-bottom and four points adrift of safety. Mousinho’s men do have two games in hand over their rivals, having seen their trip to Blackburn Rovers postponed due to a waterlogged pitch before the midweek visit of Millwall was called off through floodlight issues at Fratton Park.

Pompey now have a week to prepare for their next Championship clash, which is at home to mid-table Bristol City. Mousinho’s men still have their two games in hand to squeeze in and will hope to gain ground on their rivals, with another home game against Norwich City before an away trip to Derby County.