John Mousinho has mixed emotions after late Portsmouth equaliser

Posted Sunday, August 06, 2023 by PA

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was relieved to see his side snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Bristol Rovers.

Debutant Kusini Yengi scored a stoppage-time goal to salvage a point after Luke Thomas had given Rovers a first-half lead.

“There are mixed emotions in the dressing room at the moment,” Mousinho said.

“If you had offered me a point with five minutes to go, I would have been happy to take it.

“We need to get a lot more shots on target and take advantage of some of the areas we get into.

“The goal came from probably the best cross we made all game.

“We will look back and reflect on not getting all three points.

“I felt that Rovers were a decent side. For their goal, we gave the ball away in the middle of the park. They broke quickly off of that and capitalised. They showed what they are capable of if they get a sniff of a chance.”

“They defended their box very well in the second half, but I was very pleased for Kusini with his goal.”

Constant heavy showers made playing football difficult, but Rovers forced the early pressure and took the lead in the 24th minute.

Pompey lost the ball in midfield and a quick break and a cross from Jevani Brown saw Thomas sweep the ball home.

His strike looked like it would be the winner but substitute Yengi saved the day for Pompey two minutes into added time.

Bristol Rovers coach Andy Mangan felt that a draw was probably a fair result.

He said: “Ours was a fantastic goal. We’d already had a couple of counters before that.

“We’ve kept them out whilst under a lot of pressure, especially in the second half, until the 92nd minute.

“On another day we would have taken all three points, and the lads are devastated to have conceded that late on.

“The lads should take a lot of confidence from their performance today. To come to Fratton Park and play the way we did at times, there are a lot of positives.

“We have to be deadly on the counter. I felt it let us down a bit today, and that’s something we need to work on.

“Pompey are favourites to go up, so to defend and play like we have is something the lads should be proud of.”