Hayden Matthews own goal gives Stoke victory at Portsmouth

Portsmouth defender Hayden Matthews scored a second half own goal to gift Stoke a much-needed 1-0 win at Fratton Park.

Mark Robins’ stuttering Potters had to work hard on the south coast to claim only their second win in seven Sky Bet Championship games.

Pompey handed summer signing Makenzie Kirk his first league start while the visitors seven changes following the midweek defeat at Millwall.

Promotion hopefuls Stoke began on the front foot, forcing two quickfire corners in the opening three minutes.

The Potters also created the first chance of the game in the seventh minute when an Aaron Cresswell cross saw Divin Mubama rise high to head just past the post.

Three minutes later Pompey’s Tottenham loanee Yang Min-hyeok beat two defenders before firing well wide.

Bae Juhno then found himself unmarked in the Pompey box but could only shoot wide.

In the 25th minute Stoke had another half-chance to open the scoring when Mubama got goal-side of defender Regan Poole but put his effort tamely into the arms of goalkeeper Jo Bursik.

Kirk was then put through by Marlon Pack but his first time shot off balance went well wide of the target.

The best chance of a dour first half came in stoppage time when the lively Mubama beat the offside trap, only to see his strike beaten away by Bursik.

The visitors survived a frantic goalmouth scramble at the start of the season.

Pack’s initial free-kick led to a Pompey corner and both captain Pack and Kirk had shots blocked inside the penalty area, before Connor Ogilvie volleyed just over the crossbar.

Midway through the second half Stoke’s Ashley Phillips should have done better from Lewis Baker’s cross than head wide of the left post.

The home side were able to bring fit-again star player Josh Murphy on as a substitute and he made an instant impact.

Murphy’s dangerous cross picked out Kirk perfectly but the Northern Irishman’s close range effort was somehow kept out by Viktor Johansson in front of his newly-appointed Sweden national team boss Graham Potter.

Pompey were made to pay for that miss 20 minutes from time when the luckless Matthews made the decisive breakthrough, heading a cross from Wales winger Sorba Thomas beyond his own goalkeeper.

Murphy continued to cause problems as Pompey searched for an equaliser and Phillips had to take evasive action to turn another of his crosses behind for a corner.

Tomas Rigo came close to sealing the points with eight minutes remaining with a long-range shot that sailed over.

Pompey’s best chance to salvage a draw came when Pack headed wide from 10 yards from a Conor Chaplin centre.

Despite playing eight minutes of added time Stoke’s lead never looked under any real threat.

After a promising start to the season, John Mousinho’s Pompey have now won just one game since the end of August.