Plymouth Argyle player ratings from important 1-0 defeat of Portsmouth

Here are the player ratings of Plymouth Live's Argyle reporter Chris Errington from the Pilgrims' 1-0 win against Portsmouth at Home Park. You can give your marks too using our special widget further down this story.

Dan Grimshaw 7 - Kept a first clean sheet in 10 Championship appearances for Argyle since signing from Blackpool in August. His performances have generally been good but this should give him an extra boost of confidence. Made a good save inside the first minute of the match to kick away a shot from Connor Ogilvie. Portsmouth captain Regan Poole did follow up to put the ball in the net but was flagged offside.

Matty Sorinola 7 - Made just his second league start of the season at right-back and had his hands full with Portsmouth attacker Josh Murphy as the visitors had the better of the attacking play but he stuck to his task well, even when clearly struggling to last the pace in the closing stages after his lack of game time.

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Kornel Szucs 7 STAR MAN - The 23-year-old Hungary international is having to take on added responsibility with the rock-solid presence of Lewis Gibson not available to Argyle at the moment due to a thigh injury. He rose well to the challenge against Portsmouth.

Julio Pleguezuelo 7 - Not easy for the right-footed Spaniard to play on the left of central defence but with Brendan Galloway and Lewis Gibson it is a case of needs must and he did a decent job in just his second Championship start of 2024/25.

Bali Mumba 6 - Was up against the experienced Matt Ritchie and was fortunate when the Portsmouth attacker nipped in front of him to get on the end of a cross from Josh Murphy but sent his header straight at Dan Grimshaw rather than into the net as he should have done. That defensive awareness is an area of the game that Mumba, for all his many qualities, still needs to improve.

Jordan Houghton 6 - Captain for the night as he started just his third league game of the season - and on his 29th birthday. He should have had the present of only his third ever goal for Argyle around the hour mark when Andre Gray set him up for a shot but his side-foot attempt was not struck powerfully enough and Portsmouth keeper Niclas Schmid made a smart save low to his left to push the ball wide.

Darko Gyabi 6 - The Pilgrims' loan signing returned to the centre of midfield after not being allowed to play against his parent club Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday. Was booked in the first half for a tackle on Freddie Potts and soon afterwards had a good scoring chance but sent a shot off target after Julio Pleguezuelo headed the ball down inside the Portsmouth box.

Morgan Whittaker 6 - At times it seemed like Argyle's only attacking idea was to get the ball to Whittaker and for him to cut inside onto his left foot and try a shot. He did it a number of times, but Nicolas Scmid only had to make one save from them, and it was a fairly routine one at that. Otherwise, Whittaker put in a good shift out of possession as the Pilgrims struggled for the first hour before improving after some substitutions.

Rami Al Hajj 4 - Rested for the trip to Leeds United as an unused substitute, he was brought back into the starting line-up against Portsmouth in the key 'number 10' position but barely had any impact on the match. He sent one header wide in the first half after a cross from Freddie Issaka but an offside flag was raised anyway.

Freddie Issaka 6 - Showed flashes of inspiration playing the wide left attacking role, which has become an issue for Argyle given the fact that Ibrahim Cissoko has been ruled out until January by a hamstring injury, but the 18-year-old could not quite sustain it enough to really make his mark.

Andre Gray 5 - The experienced striker made his full debut for Argyle after three previous substitute appearances. It was difficult for him as he had his back to goal a lot of the time and did not get much joy up against Portsmouth centre-backs Tom McIntyre and Regan Poole, but perhaps he softened them up for the introduction of Michael Obafemi as his replacement in the closing stages.

SUBSTITUTES

Mustapha Bundu 6 - The Sierra Leone international was sent on in a straight swap for Freddie Issaka in the 62nd minute and provided further evidence he usually makes a better contribution off the bench than when in the starting line-up.

Callum Wright 7 - Much better from Wright, who has often struggled this season whether from the start of games or as a substitute. On for Rami Al Hajj in the 62nd minute, he was calm on the ball and allowed Argyle to gain some control for the first time in the match.

Michael Obafemi 7 - Portsmouth's travelling fans jeered Obafemi when he was a 70th minute substitute for Andre Gray because he began his career at their arch rivals Southampton. Maybe that just gave the striker an extra little bit of motivation which led to him scoring the winning goal in the 82nd minute after some less than decisive defending by centre-backs Tom McIntyre and Regan Poole. It was a fine finish too, via the laces of his right boot into the far corner of the net.

Victor Palsson - Was sent on as a 90th minute substitute for Morgan Whittaker to shore up Argyle defensively for the closing stages of the game, which he was able to do.

Substitutes (not used): Marko Marosi, Nathanael Ogbeta, Ryan Hardie, Adam Forshaw, Caleb Roberts.

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