Hull 1-1 Portsmouth: Josh Murphy earns point for Pompey

Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and Portsmouth at the MKM Stadium on Saturday; Josh Murphy scored early in the second half to earn a point for John Mousinho's Pompey.

Saturday 2 November 2024 18:44, UK

Josh Murphy's deflected strike helped Championship basement club Portsmouth earn a 1-1 draw away to frustrated Hull.

Murphy equalised within 20 seconds of the second period starting, with a 12-yard shot that diverted off Lewie Coyle, as the home side made a mess of clearing a cross from the impressive Callum Lang.

It was winger Murphy's first goal for Portsmouth since joining in June after he turned down a new deal at Oxford.

It sparked a much-improved second-half showing from John Mousinho's visitors, after Hull dominated the first half.

Joao Pedro had put Hull in front in the 11th minute, steering in from seven yards after Mohamed Belloumi's low cross.

That was also the Brazilian-born, Italy-capped forward's first goal for Hull since joining the club as a free agent in late September.

But Hull have now not won in five matches, with two losses followed by three draws, while Portsmouth ended their run of two successive defeats.

The Tigers started with Pedro in place of Chris Bedia, who dropped to the bench before coming on late on. Pompey made three changes including a start for Matt Ritchie, who performed well.

Hull dominated possession early on and were rewarded when Pedro struck, evading defender Tom McIntyre.

The Tigers came close to quickly doubling their advantage when Xavier Simons' close-range effort, from another Belloumi cross, was saved well by Nicolas Schmid.

Lang was soon appealing in vain for a penalty when he was challenged by Simons, who won the ball.

Lang caused more danger soon afterwards when he produced an angled strike that was pushed away by Ivor Pandur.

Schmid had to come to the rescue again when he smothered a Gustavo Puerta shot after the Hull midfielder's piercing run.

The visitors levelled with Murphy's strike and suddenly it was a different game as a more confident Portsmouth stayed on the front foot and Hull struggled to play out from the back.

It could have got worse for the Tigers when Kusini Yengi spurned a close-range headed chance from Andre Dozzell's cross.

Pompey then had another shout for a penalty when Yengi was challenged by Charlie Hughes but referee Anthony Backhouse again saw no wrong-doing.

Hull then survived a scare in injury time when Pandur made a save to send a Lang effort on to the woodwork. The home side, though, left the field to loud boos.

The managers

Hull's Tim Walter:

"I think everybody is frustrated. I can understand. We played a really good first half but the problem was that we did not score the second.

"The players are human and it can happen that you really try to play forward but you lose in some critical situations.

"We need to stick together. We want to do better. All we want to do is create a good mood, a good family. It's not always possible.

"We need our fans so much. Sometimes it's not possible and they have to understand. I could not understand it sometimes as well. But they are all humans and they want to do it better. We can learn out of this situation and these mistakes.

"Together everything is easier - that's what I said to my boys. We behave as a team and as a family and then everything is easier. That's what we need and therefore we need our fans as well.

"To be honest it feels like a defeat. We wanted to do better but unfortunately we couldn't in the second half."

Portsmouth's John Mousinho:

"I think it was our best 45 minutes by a long way so far this season. We were a bit more aggressive in the second half, a bit more front-footed.

"Even after scoring the goal we still stayed on the front foot and didn't drop off. What it took was a bit more bravery and athleticism.

"There's a big expectation here (from the home fans) when a side bottom of the league comes to a side like Hull, especially when you go a goal up early. Probably a lot of people in the stadium might have thought that might have been it. We didn't think that, we didn't believe it.

"We showed when we do things right we are definitely at the level."