Julien Stephan impressed by QPR’s handling of Portsmouth’s ‘intense atmosphere’
· Press Association Sport Staff · 2026-08-15T17:33:24+00:00 · nguồn gốc
QPR manager Julien Stephan was delighted after his side came from behind to beat Portsmouth 3-1 thanks to a double from Ilias Chair.
Terry Devlin’s stunning strike gave Portsmouth a deserved lead but two goals from Chair and a Koki Saito strike turned the game on its head before half-time.
It was the visitors’ first win at Fratton Park since May 2000.
Stephan said: “This is always a tough place to come and a very intense atmosphere.
“Portsmouth started very strongly in the first 15 or 20 minutes but it was not possible for them to keep the same tempo for the whole game.
“What I appreciate a lot in this moment is the calmness of the players and how they stuck to the plan.
“We scored a good first goal, and after that were efficient on the second and the third and the third one.
“We managed the first 25 or 30 minutes of the second half very well. My only regret in this period was that we could not score another one because we had some good opportunities to score.
“If we scored at that moment, we could kill the game.
“We have to improve on some things, but, in general, I want to be positive after this game.”
Pompey dominated the opening half an hour and took a deserved lead through Devlin’s 30-yard curler into the bottom corner.
New signing Abu Kamara, Luke Brooke-Smith and Adrian Segecic all had chances to add to the hosts advantage before QPR silenced the home crowd.
The visitors equalised against the run of play in the 33rd minute through Chair and seven minutes later Saito’s effort from just inside the penalty area took a double deflection, wrong-footing goalkeeper Nicolas Schmid to make it 2-1.
The Hoops extended their lead in first-half stoppage time when Chair claimed his second.
Pompey should have reduced the deficit 10 minutes into the second half when Pierce Charles passed the ball straight to Abu Kamara but he shot tamely at the goalkeeper.
Home boss John Mousinho said: “It was a really strange game. We were in complete control for the first 25 minutes and took a deserved lead.
“Mentally we must have taken our foot off the gas after that. After we scored we seemed to fall apart.
“Once we conceded that drained the energy out of us and we started making poor decisions and stopped dominating the game.
“We created some good chances in the second half but also gave away too many opportunities.
“We gave ourselves too much to do.”