Pompey stretched their unbeaten run to five games as they defeated basement side Carlisle United 1-0 at Brunton Park on Saturday.
It was top versus bottom in League One and the Blues avoided a slip-up with Paddy Lane scoring the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute. John Mousinho's men are now six points clear of nearest-placed Derby County, whilst Bolton Wanderers trail them by seven and hold three games over them.
Elsewhere in the division, ten-man Barnsley defeated Leyton Orient 2-1. The Tykes fell behind in the 10th minute to Ruel Sotiriou's effort but Adam Phillips netted in the 88th minute before grabbing the winner in the fifth minute of added on time.
Bolton were held by Northampton Town and had George Thomason sent off at Sixfields. Derby County drew with Shrewsbury Town as Aaron Pierre struck late after Bristol City loanee Max Bird had opened the scoring early in the second-half. Play-off chasing Blackpool and Oxford United could not be separated as Matt Pennington opened the scoring but Mark Harris quickly responded with an equaliser.
Peterborough promotion push took a blow as they lost 5-2 to Wycombe Wanderers, having found themselves three goals down just before the hour. Stevenage who currently occupy a play-off spot meanwhile were held by managerless Port Vale as they conceded a 98th minute penalty to Funso Ojo.
There were several draws across the division and mostly all of the results were positive for Pompey who will want to create a gap over the sides below them. In some cases they cannot help their situation with games in hand for several sides but they can continue to pick up points which will help their cause.
Several players over the weekend have been given their flowers for their performances and earned their spot in the League One Team of the Week. This isn't the confirmed side, as the EFL do change the formation, but right now there is one Pompey player in the side according to WhoScored, a metrics system which judges player's performance based on several factors.
One Pompey player makes the cut this week, whilst someone who once called Fratton Park their home is also amongst those included. Reeco Hackett-Fairchild who was at Pompey from 2020 to 2023, was included after featuring in Lincoln City's 2-1 win over Fleetwood Town in which he notched up an assist. Here's who made the cut.
