Portsmouth 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday: Owls get first win of season

John Mousinho made only two changes from Pompey’s draw at Southampton last weekend, with reserve keeper Killip replacing the injured Nicolas Schmid in goal and Swansea loannee Florian Bianchini starting in place of Josh Murphy, who instead watched from the directors’ box at Fratton Park.

The Owls,meanwhile, made eight alterations from their shock midweek EFL Cup exit to Grimsby, captain Bannan and experienced defender Dominic Iorfa among those restored to the starting XI.

Just a minute after the travelling Wednesday fans protested once again against owner Dejphon Chansiri, Bannan quickly changed the tone for his side of 10 years, curling in a precise 12th-minute free-kick to put the visitors ahead.

Pompey, ragged in possession and repeatedly loose at the back, struggled to create clear openings, their best first-half chance a blocked Conor Chaplin effort late on.

Any hopes of a second-half recovery evaporated when Wednesday’s Brown – making his league debut – pounced on the unfortunate Shaughnessy, who went down injured from chasing the ball and the 19-year-old fired past Killip into the bottom left corner.

Killip, jittery early, grew into the game with a string of saves to keep his side in it, but frustration grew inside Fratton Park as Mousinho’s team laboured in and out of possession.

Summer signings Makenzie Kirk and Mark Kosznovszky offered late energy off the bench, and striker Colby Bishop twice went close in the last 20 minutes, denied by Max Lowe on the line and then keeper Ethan Horvath twice.

Portsmouth were denied by a goalline clearance for a second time when Matthews’ close-range strike from a corner was hacked away by Dominic Iorfa.

Thankfully for Owls coach Henrik Pedersen, Wednesday’s discipline and defensive resilience proved enough to seal a morale-boosting win and leave Pompey ruing an unusual flat display.