'It was farcical scenes': EFL pundit delivers verdict on Portsmouth's win over Sunderland and John Marquis' performance

Marquis scored twice in the game at Fratton Park, ending a run of eight league games without a goal.

The striker’s brace came after goals from Marcus Harness and Lee Brown, which Marquis assisted, as Pompey adapted better to the terrible conditions.

Persistent rain and swirling wind left standing water on the pitch, as Sunderland struggled to deal with Portsmouth’s high-intensity pressing game.

The result went against the form table, given the Black Cats had gone eight games unbeaten in all competitions while Pompey hadn’t won for eight matches.

When discussing the match, Quest’s studio pundit Ali Maxwell from the Not The Top 20 Podcast said: “The form lines going into it would have suggested Sunderland might have been the winners here but it was the complete opposite.

“It was farcical scenes with the conditions. The ball, particularly in the second half, was barely bouncing or rolling in some areas of the pitch.

“John Marquis is probably the story for me amongst a host of good Portsmouth performances.

“He’s taken a lot of flak recently, as strikers in underperforming teams tend to, but with two goals and an assist for Lee Brown maybe his confidence will flow.

“He’s a striker that I think generally scores in batches, last season he had a run of nine in seven at one point so maybe we can expect him to notch in the next game.”

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