'Totally committed, absolutely outstanding effort' - These Portsmouth fans react to Arsenal defeat

Portsmouth went out of the FA Cup last night after a spirited display against a weakened Arsenal side.

A place in the FA Cup Quarter Final awaited the winner of the tie, but goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah eventually sank the brave Pompey resistance.

Pompey gave a good account of themselves in the first half, despite making four changes to their starting XI with one eye on their own promotion challenge. However, they went in at the break behind after Sokratis’ volleyed home from Reiss Nelson’s cross.

Former Leeds loanee Eddie Nketiah netted from close range after another Nelson cross to wrap up the victory just six minutes after the restart. For all their positive endeavour, Pompey’s only shot on target came when Ronan Curtis saw his effort saved.

Manager Kenny Jackett wasn’t too downhearted after the game, saying: “In terms of winning the game, getting the first goal would have been key and with the pressure we had, we needed one.

“But after their second they dominated and it would have been a goal out of nothing from us. Then realistically we were playing damage limitation. My players didn’t buckle, kept going and that was good.”

They now have a promotion challenge to focus on, as well as a trip to Wembley to face Salford City in the EFL Trophy Final at Wembley. With plenty ot look forward too, these fans were certainly delighted with their team’s effort last night.

Dead club? We are on the up, and you struggled to beat us, we were poor in the second half and you couldn't create anything. Enjoy fighting for 10th

— Rob Green (@robg4pompey) March 2, 2020

We’ve had a decent run but now full concentration on the league

— Aaron Easson 💙🤍❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 (@azbone2001) March 2, 2020

The embarrassment of a prem clubs fans excited at beating a league 1 team who rested 4 of its starting 11 😂

— olly clarke (@ollyclarke27) March 2, 2020

@solentsport Unlucky Pompey! A great first 45 minutes and unlucky to go in 0-1 at half time. Who knows what would have happened if we’d taken our chances! Take that performance into Saturday and let’s get climbing the league!

— LORRAINE WELLS (@WELLS35) March 2, 2020