Sunderland 1-3 Portsmouth
Sunderland’s unbeaten start to the League One season came to an end when Portsmouth left the Stadium of Light with three points.
The Black Cats fell behind twice in the first half but couldn’t come up with the second equaliser against Pompey.
Marcus Harness and John Marquis scored either side of Charlie Wyke’s tenth minute finish to give Portsmouth the 2-1 lead at half-time.
But Sunderland, who did step things up after the restart after the visitors’ strong and creative first half showing, were unable to come up with a way to beat goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray for a second time.
That paved the way for the visitors to add a third from the spot with five minutes remaining when Luke O’Nien picked up his second yellow card for bringing down Ryan Williams. Marquis did the rest with his second.
Sunderland stay in a top six spot and have a game in hand on those around them despite a defeat which marked the end of a five-match run of clean sheets for Phil Parkinson’s men.
Portsmouth have had something of an indifferent start, but three wins from their previous four had put them back in the mix and had clearly brought back plenty confidence.
Given how dangerous Pompey are it was little surprise then that Jordan Willis, a defender Parkinson trusts a lot, was recalled after missing the midweek win over Crewe with a bruised foot.
With Conor McLaughlin dropping to the bench to accommodate Willis, that was the only change to the side – meaning O’Nien continued to play at the back despite the sight of Tom Flanagan’s name among the substitutes.
Despite the change there was soon an opening for Portsmouth to take advantage of inside seven minutes, during a bright opening.
Michael Jacobs was picked out in loads of space deep in the Sunderland half and he rolled a pass inside the area for Harness to hit first time low and inside goalkeeper Lee Burge’s bottom right corner.
Given Sunderland’s strong defensive record, that lapse was a surprise, but it took less than three minutes for them to level.
Denver Hume still had a lot to do when he was picked out on the touchline. He darted inside and then to the line before cutting back perfectly for Wyke to run on to and side-foot low inside MacGillivray’s near post.
That didn’t knock Portsmouth. Instead the visitors picked up the pace again, with Sean Raggett and Jacobs forcing Burge into strong saves inside three minutes of one another.
In the 25th minute Portsmouth reclaimed the lead. Grant Leadbitter’s pass inside missed its intended target and was collected by Harness, who was quick to roll in Marquis and the former Doncaster man struck low inside the far post from an angle.
It was a frustrating way to concede and Sunderland needed a lift from somewhere. They did improve as the half-time whistle neared.
Chris Maguire volleyed over from ten yards after Hume’s long-range drive was blocked, but that was as near as they came to ending the half level.
Sunderland needed a lift and they started the better of the two teams in the second half. Without testing MacGillivray, the home side did create a few half chances but they needed to conjure up something extra.
With the hour approaching the best Sunderland could come up with was Wyke’s header that flew over the bar from Josh Scowen’s delivery into a crowded area.
That was pretty much Scowen’s last involvement because he was replaced with a striker, Will Grigg, with 20 minutes remaining. Sunderland finished the game with four strikers on the pitch after Danny Graham replaced Leadbitter for the last ten.
But with seven minutes remaining O’Nien saw red when he conceded the penalty when Williams got in behind him. Marquis did the rest from the spot, sending Burge the wrong way.
Burge got down low late on to make a strong save from Harness too, as Sunderland look to a week on the road to get them back on track.
SUNDERLAND (3-5-2): Burge; Willis, Wright, O’Nien; Gooch, Leadbitter (Graham 83), Scowen (Grigg 70), Power, Hume; Maguire, Wyke.
Subs: Matthews (gk), McLaughlin, Flanagan, Dobson, O’Brien.
PORTSMOUTH (4-2-3-1): MacGillivray; Johnson, Whatmough, Raggett, Brown; Naylor, Cannon; Williams, Harness (Nicolaisen 89), Jacobs (Curtis 55); Marquis.
Subs: Close, Morris, Pring, Hiwula, Bass.
Referee: Robert Lewis