The Blues conceded a leveller three minutes into extra time, denying them a crucial win at Ewood Park.
A furious John Mousinho reflected on Pompey’s late Ewood Park misery, insisting: “We managed the game horribly.”
The Blues appeared to be on their way to a third win in four away games as Connor Ogilvie scored in the 84th minute against fellow strugglers Blackburn.
However, in the third minute of added time, Ryoya Morishita was allowed to cut in from the right, and Hayden Carter headed his ball home via the inside of the far post.
It was heartbreaking for Mousinho’s side, who had dominated possession and commanded play in a fairly monotonous match devoid of scoring opportunities.
And the head coach was unhappy after they failed to hold onto their late lead and secure three valuable points.
Mousinho told The News that the final ten minutes will determine the outcome.
‘We had 85 minutes to control the game; it was pretty even, and we had considerably more possession. Blackburn had a great chance early on, but other than that, it was quite cagey – until we gave ourselves the chance to win the game.
‘But once we scored the goal, we threw it away. We stopped winning headers, challenges, and second balls, allowed them to return inside for the goal, dropped too deep, and committed too many bodies forward at times. We did not do any of the things we did so well throughout those 85 minutes.
‘There is certainly a mental flip when you try for a goal, and I can accept us sitting deep. Then we need to dominate below the ball, win our battles, and come out with the second balls.
‘We managed the game horribly, so poorly, and, finally, we got what we deserved – Blackburn equalising in a very awful fashion.
‘For that goal, I thought we had possibilities to clear our lines; there was a time immediately before that when the two pressed the goalie, and we knew it was going to take longer, so we didn’t have bodies in the center of the park.
‘Then we didn’t get tight enough for the cross, so we allowed them back inside, and we were punished.’
Both goalkeepers had a peaceful afternoon, and the Blues would have been happy if the game had ended goalless.
However, having taken the lead, it was certainly the visitors who were dissatisfied with the outcome, notably Mousinho.
He went on to say, ‘What we haven’t done well this season is control games, stay in games, then steal something from a set-piece – we accomplished it today, and we did what we haven’t been doing.
‘We should be leaving here thinking it was a close game, but we pulled ahead of them with a set-piece, therefore we’re going to win.
‘However, the only time we’ve accomplished that this season, we threw it away.’
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