Portsmouth 2 Charlton 1
The Addicks suffered a stoppage-time defeat at Fratton Park.
Harvey Knibbs looked to have secured a well-deserved point for Nathan Jones’ side in the sixth minute of added time, but Portsmouth struck back immediately from the restart, with substitute Min-Hyeok Yang finding the net.
Jones made five changes from the side that faced Norwich City on Boxing Day and, for large spells, the Addicks looked the better team, but they were unable to capitalise on the chances that came their way.
Charlton started with real energy and intent, winning a corner inside the opening 14 seconds. Charlie Kelman kept Pompey goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid busy early on. In the 13th minute, Tyreece Campbell found Kelman in the penalty area, but the striker’s effort was straight at Schmid. A minute later, Schmid got down well to his left to push away Kelman’s placed shot after Miles Leaburn had picked him out inside the box.
The Addicks largely restricted the home side in the first half. Portsmouth’s best opening came from outside the area when Terry Devlin blazed high and wide following a cleared set piece. Conor Coventry then saw a goalbound header strike his own teammate, Campbell, allowing Pompey to clear.
Just before the break, Joe Rankin-Costello, making his first league start for the club, drove forward on the counter and found Amari’i Bell overlapping on the left. Bell dinked a cross to the back post where Campbell, arriving late, headed just wide.
Schmid was called into action early in the second half, first making a smart save to deny Coventry before producing an outstanding reaction stop to keep out Reece Burke. Max Swanson then went close for the visitors but blasted over after Thomas Kaminski had saved Devlin’s initial effort.
Rankin-Costello continued to threaten, combining neatly with teammates to work his way into the box. One shot was blocked, before he curled another effort just wide with Schmid rooted to the spot.
Portsmouth took the lead in the 69th minute when Conor Shaughnessy powered home a header from Adrian Segecic’s set piece. Charlton responded with renewed pressure, and Campbell again went close, whipping a shot narrowly past the post with the goalkeeper beaten.
The Addicks’ persistence paid off deep into stoppage time. Sonny Carey’s corner was headed back across goal by Leaburn, allowing Knibbs to nod home the equaliser.
However, the hosts delivered a sucker punch straight from kick-off. Charlton cleared a long ball only as far as Yang, who placed his shot beyond Kaminski to seal a dramatic late win for Pompey.
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Portsmouth: Schmid, Poole, Pack (c), Segecic, Matthews (Shaughnessy 65), Dozzell, Swanson, Devlin, Kirk (Umeh 90), Blair (Yang 65), Chaplin (Kosznovszky 65, Bowat 85)
Subs (not used): Bursik, Williams, Swift, Bishop
Goals: Shaughnessy 69, Yang 90+8
Assist: Segecic 69
Booked: Poole 74 (handball), Bowat 90+4 (timewasting)
Charlton: Kaminski; Burke (Gillesphey 84), Jones (c), Bell; Bree (Apter 84), Coventry, Rankin-Costello (Knibbs 84), Berry (Carey 84), Campbell; Kelman, Leaburn
Subs (not used): Mannion, Gough, Docherty, Fullah, Olaofe
Goal: Knibbs 90+6
Assist: Leaburn 90+6
Booked: Bell 59 (attempting to steal yards on throw-in), Rankin-Costello 61 (foul on Chaplin)
Referee: Paul Tierney
Attendance: 20,401 (2,168 from Charlton)
