I was actually not worried when Portsmouth's all-action Bishop blasted into our net in the third minute. I figured our much-changed side would be able to overpower the injury-hit home side. And so it proved. Portsmouth was aggressive and showed some real skill, but they couldn't hang with us. Corners led to our first two goals, but Martinelli had two golden chances he spurned, the first wide and the second off the post. Our medium-sized Gabriel potted two more goals to go with his first half header (seen below), one from a very nice flowing attack and the last was another header from a Madueke corner. (His corners have been superb lately.) And Madueke put a penalty kick wide.
The positives I took from this include a fine 30 minutes from Kai Havertz, who looked sharp at comfortable. Madueke was dangerous (except from the spot). Martinelli was very productive. 16 year old beanpole Marli Salmon gave Gabriel, the only starter from last game, the last half hour off and looked good. Nwaneri seemed to be playing his part. Ben White was pretty good, but was hauled off in the second half carrying a yellow card. Merino ably filled the 6 role.
Th negatives: Eze was off the pace. This was a game he should have bossed, but he seemed lost out there, unable to impose himself in a meaningful way. Once again, Lewis-Skelly was poor. He's our only left back option now, but he's a weak link.
Well, on to the next round, eventually, after Chelsea, Forest, and Milan away at least.
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