Portsmouth vs Cardiff — Championship: stats, lineups & analysis
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play_arrow2 clips- 9′Cardiff, yellow card:Foul
- 31′Portsmouth, goal:1–0assist
- Half-time1 – 0
- 52′Portsmouth, goal:2–0assist
- 60′Cardiff, yellow card:Foul
- 63′Cardiff, substitution:off
- 64′Cardiff, substitution:off
- 65′Portsmouth, substitution:off
- 65′Portsmouth, substitution:off
- 69′Portsmouth, substitution:off
- 69′Portsmouth, substitution:off
- 83′Cardiff, substitution:off
- 86′Cardiff, yellow card:Foul
- 90+1′Cardiff, substitution:off
- 90+2′Cardiff, yellow card:Argument
- 90+4′Portsmouth, substitution:off
- Full-time2 – 0
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Portsmouth
Cardiff
Match report
Portsmouth end poor run with home win over Cardiff
Portsmouth beat Cardiff 2-0 at Fratton Park in a Championship fixture from round five, snapping a losing streak with a performance built on two well-taken second-half goals to go with an opener before the break. Conor Shaughnessy broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, finishing from a Tyrese Shade assist to send the home side in 1-0 up at half-time.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Portsmouth doubled their advantage seven minutes after the restart when Marko Milovanović converted an Adrian Segecic assist to make it 2-0, and that scoreline held until the final whistle. Despite having just 36 per cent of possession, Portsmouth managed 17 shots to Cardiff's 15 and matched their visitors with five shots on target apiece, showing efficiency without dominating the ball.
Cardiff, who picked up four yellow cards to Portsmouth's none, struggled to find a way back into the contest despite winning more corners, seven to five. The result lifted Portsmouth to 14th in the table on six points from five games, while Cardiff remained bottom in 22nd with three points from the same number of matches.
Shaughnessy opened the scoring and was rated the top performer of the match at 8.23, while Segecic's assist for the second goal also earned him a strong 7.70 rating.
Cardiff enjoyed 64 per cent of possession yet could not turn that control into a victory at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth beat Cardiff 2–0 (half-time 1–0).
Portsmouth met Cardiff in the Championship (Regular Season - 5). Kick-off was Saturday, 5 September 2026, 14:00 UTC at Fratton Park. Referee: Benjamin Speedie.
Team pages: Portsmouth · Cardiff · Championship
Key moments
- 31' Goal: Conor Shaughnessy (assist: Tyrese Shade) — 1–0 · Watch Conor Shaughnessy's goal video (31')
- 52' Goal: Marko Milovanović (assist: Adrian Segecic) — 2–0 · Watch Marko Milovanović's goal video (52')
Starting line-ups
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1)
Cardiff (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Portsmouth 39%, the draw 29%, Cardiff 32%. It finished Portsmouth 2–0 Cardiff.
Level sides, home ground holds off Cardiff's control of the ball — Nothing separates them on our strength rating, and Portsmouth's 39% is home ground and little else. The draw at 29% is up from the usual 26.5% between sides this level, as small adjustments add up.
Why Portsmouth in front?
Home ground, and little else. Almost nothing between them on our strength rating — 1411 to 1407. Sides this close won 45.6% of 14,560 home games (draw 26.5%, visitors 27.9%).
Why only 39%?
Because on our strength rating there is nothing in it. Cardiff hold 9 more possession points (60 to 51 in recent games) — and between equals, control has been worth something. Between evenly-matched sides, when the visitors held this control edge the home team's win rate fell to 40.2% across 5,567 games, from 44.0% when styles were level. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Portsmouth's column. Across 10,911 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.0 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why the draw at 29%?
Between sides this level the draw starts at 26.5%. These teams' recent games average 3.2 goals — a high-scoring environment. Games in that environment drew 22.8% of 17,073. The goals environment takes 2.4 points off the draw. Championship runs draw-heavy, adding 2.0 points.
What did we measure but not count?
Cardiff are newly promoted — game 5 of their first ten at this level, where our rating knows them least. Promoted sides ran below their rating in nine of the last ten seasons — 26.5% wins in their first ten games where the rating expected 30.0% (2,793 games since 2012), fading but still visible through game nineteen.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Portsmouth vs Cardiff final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Championship fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Conor Shaughnessy's goal against Cardiff (31').
- Watch Marko Milovanović's goal against Cardiff (52').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Portsmouth 2–0 Cardiff. Explore more on the Portsmouth and Cardiff team pages or the Championship page.