Portsmouth boss fumes after Hull City draw and makes big claim

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho praised his team for delivering their best 45 minutes of the season after they drew 1-1 at Hull City – but criticised the officiating by referee Anthony Backhouse.

City were booed off by large sections of their fans after bottom side Portsmouth’s much-improved second-half showing, including Josh Murphy’s deflected strike to equalise, which left Tim Walter and the home supporters deeply frustrated.

Portsmouth were denied a first-half penalty when Callum Lang was challenged by Xavier Simons – and then again in the second period when Kusini Yengi was met by Charlie Hughes. The Portsmouth manager also felt Hughes should have been sent off in a separate incident in the closing stages after he slipped on the edge of the box, picking up a yellow card for a last man foul.

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Mousinho said: “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.”

On the officiating, Mousinho said: “They were two penalties. We have seen them back. The first one on Callum Lang, the defender just takes his legs out from underneath him. 99.9 per cent of the time the one on Kusini Yengi is also given, and 100 per cent of the time outside the box.

“I’ll go and speak to the referee and try to get his thinking. The other big decision was what I thought was a red card as well for Charlie Hughes, not for the penalty incident but for dragging Matt Ritchie down when he is through on goal in the second half.”