BRISTOL CITY 2 PORTSMOUTH 1
DEAN HOLDEN described Chris Martin’s winning goal as “genius” after he booked Bristol City a place in the FA Cup fourth round.
And boss Holden insisted he would not swap Dan Bentley for any goalkeeper in English football following a brilliant late save that stopped the tie going to extra-time.
City seemed home and dry when Martin added to Famara Diedhiou’s opener by finding the roof of the net with a superb rightfoot shot on the turn from 20 yards with just seven minutes left.
But they still needed Bentley to superbly deny Jordy HiwulaMayifuila when the Pompey substitute looked sure to equalise with the last kick of the game.
Holden said: “Chris has come up with a moment of genius for us after we failed to maintain the standard of our first-half play.
“And Dan has produced a couple of crucial saves, the last one showing just how important he is to us. I wouldn’t swap him for any other keeper in the country.”
Diedhiou gave City a 19th-minute lead, connecting sweetly from just outside the box after latching onto Hakeeb Adelakun’s pass.
Portsmouth levelled in first-half stoppage time. Andrew Cannon pulled the ball back from the left byline and right-back Callum Johnson drilled a low drive past Bentley from 15 yards.
The League One visitors were looking the more likely winners when Martin struck but boss Kenny Jackett was not interested in hard luck stories. “We’ve caused a very good Championship side a lot of problems today but that’s no good if you don’t turn pressure into goals,” he said.
“The difference was in the quality of the finishing. I was right behind Martin’s shot and it was a terrific strike. We’re disappointed to lose a game in which our approach play was so good. A mixture of brave defending, good saves and failure to take our chances has cost us.”
Jackett was without Ronan Curtis because of illness and Jackett said he would be tested for Covid. “Ronan had a negative test during the week and we will have him tested again tomorrow,” he said. “He felt under the weather, so we didn’t bring him with us.”
Holden was pleased to see centre-back Alfie Mawson play for an hour after a long injury lay-off.
“Alfie did really well, but we have plenty to work on before our next game at Brentford,” he said. BRISTOL CITY: Bentley 9, Mariappa 6, Kalas 7, Mawson 7 (Moore 66, 6), Rowe 6, Semenyo 6, Nagy 6 (Massengo 77), Bakinson 5 (Vyner 81), Adelakun 5 (Wells 66, 6), Martin 8, Diedhiou 7
PORTSMOUTH: MacGillivray 7, Johnson 7, Raggett 7, Nicolaisen 5 (Whatmough 46, 6), Brown 7, Harness 7, Naylor 7, Cannon 67 Jacobs 6 (Hiwula-Mayifuila 86), Williams 6, Marquis 6 (Harrison 65, 6)
MOTM DAN BENTLEY (BRISTOL CITY)