Marti Cifuentes frustrated as Leicester City draw again at home with Portsmouth

Marti Cifuentes criticised the level of Leicester City’s second-half performance after the Foxes drew for the fifth time in six matches following a 1-1 stalemate against Portsmouth at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester broke the deadlock courtesy of Aaron Ramsey’s acrobatic finish from Abdul Fatawu’s cross on 26 minutes but missed a host of other chances to double their lead.

Pompey made the home side pay for their wastefulness in front of goal on 58 minutes when John Swift curled a shot past Jakub Stolarczyk at his near post following a counter attack.

The Foxes now trail Championship league leaders Coventry by five points and Cifuentes admits the draw against Pompey felt like a defeat.

For exclusive stories and all the detailed EFL news you need, subscribe to The Football League Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.

Critical

Cifuentes said: “We know a one-nil advantage is not enough, especially in the Championship, the goal came from a turnover and we didn’t react well enough which changed the momentum of the game.

“The second half was not at the level we want it but I’m very self-critical and the second half should have been much better.

“In the process of growing and building a team, sometimes you get caught thinking too much. Football is about the space and it is the foundation of our way of playing.

“The space was in-behind the backline so we needed to exploit where the space is but we needed different solutions.

“The reality is draws do not get you far in this league. The feeling at the end of the game is like a defeat.

“I like the fact we were still relentless and had a never-say-die mentality but the second half was not at the level.”

Bravery

Portsmouth are now unbeaten in their last three matches and boss John Mousinho praised the bravery of his side’s second-half performance.

Mousinho said: “It was probably one of the best 45 minutes of the season [in the second half], we pressed really well and showed much more quality, we were superb.

“We needed to have a little bit more belief and confidence off the ball and on the ball as well. In the small moments we needed to be braver and there would be chances for us.

“The away performances have been good, we definitely could have won the game, there’s much better signs than where we were this time last year.

“You can get too carried away, we don’t want to think we’ve all of a sudden cracked it because we finished 16th last year. We’ve had a solid start but the league is relentless and catches you very quickly.

“We also need to have that belief, avoiding relegation is a priority. Our ambition is not to just do that, we have to be very wary of the dangers but also push on.”

Spurned

Ramsey’s instinctive close-range finish from Fatawu’s cross put Leicester ahead as the on-loan midfielder marked his first start for the club with a goal.

Portsmouth hit the crossbar soon after as on-loan winger Yang Min-Hyeok saw his volley come back off the woodwork.

Pompey goalkeeper Joe Bursik made a pair of crucial saves to keep the visitors in the contest as he denied both Ramsey and Fatawu before the break.

The visitors made the most of those reprieves to equalise just before the hour mark as Swift started and finished a counter attack after exchanging passes with Yang.

Portsmouth spurned a glorious chance to win the game late on as the outstretched boot of Stolarczyk kept out substitute Florian Bianchini while Luke Thomas shot wide for Leicester deep into injury time.

READ MORE: Leicester City 1-1 Portsmouth: Foxes lose ground in promotion race after being held at home