How we scored the Leicester City players as they were defeated in their crunch relegation clash at Portsmouth
Jordan Blackwell
14:55, 18 Apr 2026Updated 16:39, 18 Apr 2026
Abdul Fatawu of Leicester City in action with Ibane Bowat of Portsmouth during the Sky Bet Championship match between Portsmouth and Leicester City at Fratton Park
Leicester City are on the brink of falling to League One after losing a relegation showdown at Portsmouth.
On another miserable afternoon in their dreadful season, City lacked quality, conceded from a corner, and then failed to take their chances.
Manager Gary Rowett had said City’s hopes would be over if they failed to beat Pompey, and they could indeed be relegated against Hull next Tuesday depending on other results.
For a crunch clash, Rowett made three changes. He opted to switch goalkeepers, with Asmir Begovic returning between the sticks, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid bringing greater experience in attack and Hamza Choudhury more bite in midfield.
But perhaps the nerves of a must-win match got to City, because the first half was extremely low on quality. Neither side could string any passes together, with City going more direct, but aimlessly so.
They did have a penalty shout with around 10 minutes played though, Patson Daka running across his man to try to reach Abdul Fatawu’s cross, the striker caught on his foot. His appeals were waved away.
But it wasn’t until the half-hour mark passed that the first real chance of the game came, with Jannik Vestergaard and Luke Thomas’s confusion letting in Adrian Segecic, with Jamaal Lascelles stepping across well to block the near-post shot.
City only managed three shots in the whole of the half, with their best opportunity coming in added time, with De Cordova-Reid getting in behind and striking a bouncing ball on the angle, with Nicolas Schmid able to save.
There was much more goalmouth action in the second half, and immediately so. Two minutes in, Begovic had to get down low to deny Conor Chaplin.
Then came City’s big chance, with a Luke Thomas long throw flicked on to Choudhury at the back post, but the midfielder hammering the ball into the side-netting.
City, so tight defensively for the first half, were all of a sudden letting Portsmouth in behind with Millenic Alli and Segecic both fluffing chances when they got beyond the back-line.
But it didn’t matter, as Portsmouth took the lead just after the hour. A corner was swung to the back post and a host of blue shirts attacked it, Ibane Bowat credited with bundling the ball in.
City needed goals, and quickly, and they had the chances to score them. Harry Winks crossed deep and Daka attacked it with a decent header, but Schmid dived to parry away. They kept the move alive to tee up Vestergaard, but Regan Poole threw himself in the way with a heroic block.
Poole then made an error, a short back-pass letting Daka in, but the Zambian lacked the conviction to take the ball around Schmid.
City continued pushing, but Portsmouth defended their box diligently, and didn’t let them through. Their season hangs by a thread.
Asmir Begovic: He saved low to deny Chaplin early in the first half, but looked a little slow in back-pedalling when the decisive corner floated over his head. A couple of kicks went astray too. 4
Ricardo Pereira: He gave the ball away cheaply in the first half, but often because he lacked options. There was lots of fight there in the second period though, the captain making countless tackles and carrying the ball forward whenever he could. 5
Jamaal Lascelles: He made two very good blocks in the first half, reading play well to bail out team-mates’ mistakes. On the ball, he didn’t offer much though, as the game became stretched, he looked less assured. 5
Jannik Vestergaard: Another very rocky game from the Dane, who in several moments got his feet twisted. It led to a handful of mistakes, plus lots of untidiness on the ball. He did win a lot of headers. 3
Luke Thomas: There was some confusion with Vestergaard in a moment that let Segecic in, and he looked uncomfortable in moments without ever giving too much away. On the ball, he, like Ricardo, lacked support. 4
Hamza Choudhury: He was not in the game at all in the first period until a late intervention in the box. In the second half, he thrashed a big chance into the side-netting. The passion fans want to see was only shown when he argued with a Portsmouth supporter as he was subbed off. 3
Harry Winks: He lost possession inside the first 30 seconds and let attacking midfielders get behind him regularly. He was okay on the ball, especially compared to the standards of others, but was still well short of his best. 4
Abdul Fatawu: His crosses were really poor in the first half, and so he wasted City’s best chances to attack the Portsmouth box. He did get around his man more often in the second period but to little effect. 4
Bobby De Cordova-Reid: He was poor on the ball in the first half, his passes either failing to find their mark, or the Jamaican passing behind team-mates to slow down attacks. He barely touched the ball in the second half. 3
Stephy Mavididi: There was a moment in the first half where he tripped over the ball and that summed up his afternoon. Did not make an impact in an attacking sense at all. 3
Patson Daka: He had a strong shout for a penalty, played a great pass to Fatawu in one attack and pressed well in the first half. He attacked his second-half header well too, but utterly lacked conviction for the late one-on-one. 5
Jordan James: He looked slightly fitter than he did than when he came on last week, but still not enough to influence the game in any way.4
Divine Mukasa: He got into shooting positions well, but saw efforts blocked. His decision to shoot from a long-range free-kick late on was a bad one. 4
Jordan Ayew: Didn’t make an impact in City’s attack. 4
Bade Aluko: Only on the pitch for a few minutes. N/A
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