Ruthless Portsmouth put Bristol City to the sword to close gap to safety

Goals from Colby Bishop, Josh Murphy and Callum Lang put the Robins to the sword as the Blues extended their unbeaten run to three games in the Championship.

Despite John Mousinho serving a one-game touchline ban for collecting three yellow cards so far this season, it didn’t stop Pompey from dominating proceedings in blustery conditions at Fratton Park as Storm Darragh hit the south coast.

And the host’s shot out the blocks with Max O’Leary being called into action within the first two minutes to tip Matt Ritchie’s free-kick from 20-yards-out over the bar. The Blues came close from the resulting corner as Regan Poole had a great chance from close range stopped on the line by the Robins keeper.

Mousinho’s men continued to pile on the pressure and their efforts were rewarded 20 minutes in as Jason Knight failed to clear the ball on the edge of the box. Murphy’s press on Rob Dickie saw the ball fall kindly to Bishop, whose initial shot was saved by O’Leary before the 28-year-old tapped into an empty net.

Although Pompey looked solid at the back, Bristol City did have their chances with a goal-mouth scramble resulting in Luke McNally seeing a half-hearted shot go wide of the mark. Anis Mehmeti and Max Bird had chances before the break but the Blues deserved to go into the break ahead.

The hosts could’ve taken the lead five minutes into the second period, but were once again denied by the outstanding O’Leary. Callum Lang snitched the ball from Dickie and was through on goal before being denied by the Robins number one.

It took Mousinho’s men just 17 minutes in the second half to find their second goal, as Robins captain Knight lost possession once again outside his own box. Lang won the ball before finding Bishop, with the Magic Man taking two touches before releasing Murphy in the box. And the winger, who is in red hot form scoring four goal in five games, made no mistake and slotted through the legs of O’Leary.

And the Blues didn’t stop there as Murphy this time turned scorer to provider with his outstanding ball finding Lang unmarked at the back post to extend Pompey’s advantage.

Mousinho’s men saw out the remaining 20 minutes to hold onto their third victory of the season and close the gap to Cardiff in 21st to just one point.