City left it late but found a way to win again on the road
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho was left unhappy with the manner of Hull City’s goal on Saturday(Image: Steven Paston/PA Wire)
Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho slammed the manner of Matt Crooks’ winning goal as unacceptable, after Hull City snatched a 1-0 victory on Saturday to cement their play-off place and leave the Blues looking nervously over their shoulder at the other end of the table.
Crooks slammed into an empty net after Australian Adrian Segecic made an error before selling goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid short with a backpass that allowed Oli McBurnie to force the mistake.
From his poor kick, Crooks angled in an effort 17 minutes from time to give City the lead with just their second effort on target in what was a low-key performance on the South Coast.
Though Pompey dominated possession and had 21 shots, rarely was goalkeeper Ivor Pandur stretched, and they were left to reflect on a second successive 1-0 home defeat to Yorkshire opposition, having been seen off late by Sheffield United earlier this month.
Mousinho, whose side is perilously close to the danger zone, pulled no punches in delivering his assessment of a second defeat in the space of a few days for Pompey.
“The last two home games have been frustrating, but the nature of the Sheffield United defeat almost felt more acceptable for some reason,” Mousinho said.
“The way that we shot ourselves in the foot, the way we dominated the game but ultimately came away losing – I think it’s unacceptable.
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search. Help us stay visible by adding us as a Preferred Source in your search settings
“I’m fine with us giving the ball away, I’m fine with the fact that if we’re asking boys to play in tight situations, there may be times where Hull nick it back.
“But I’m not fine with the nature in which we did it, it was a little flick with the outside of the boot. The issue with the goal is if Adrian (Segecic) gets it and passes it straight to a Hull player, I could live with it. But it’s a little flick with the outside of the boot – I’m not having that at all.
“Adrian’s mistake leads to the goal, but in the second half, I thought it was us in general. Whenever Hull looked threatening, it was because we took too long on the ball and made poor decisions.
“We decided we’re good players and a good team. We are when we do things simply, when we take two touches, switch the ball quickly and don’t dawdle on the ball. We get it to our full-backs, wide players and attack the box. But when we get carried away with ourselves, as we did today at times, we get punished.
“I’m very disappointed with the result. I think we controlled pretty much the entire game. The performance in the first half was really good. We made some poor decisions in the second half, but we came away with 21 shots; Hull had two.
“We shot ourselves in the foot with what we did for the goal. If it was one of those games where we don’t create enough at the top end of the pitch, then fine, we dust ourselves down and take a point, but the manner of the goal was unacceptable.”
Pompey ended the match five points above the relegation zone, but, after a flirtation with relegation last year, Mousinho wants to be safer sooner this time around.
“I’ve just said to the boys in there, it is totally up to us what we want to do for the rest of the season,” he continued. “We’ve got four games from now to the next international break. My genuine opinion is that the only team that can beat us is ourselves.
“We are adept at times at shooting ourselves in the foot. Last year, we went 10 points clear, and then we lost two in a row and were just two points clear. We have to be better than that this year. We are good when we are scrapping with our backs against the wall, but the second we get a cushion, we come off it slightly.”
Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.