Portsmouth’s away struggles persisted as Liam Cullen’s second-half strike secured a 1-0 victory for Swansea City at the Swansea.com Stadium, extending the Blues’ winless run on the road in the Championship.
The Swansea vs Pompey result leaves John Mousinho’s side still searching for answers away from Fratton Park after a closely-contested encounter in South Wales saw the hosts edge clear of their fellow relegation battlers.
Cullen, introduced from the bench, netted the decisive goal on 78 minutes to separate two evenly-matched sides. Despite competing throughout, Portsmouth failed to sufficiently test Lawrence Vigouroux in the Swansea goal.
Mousinho selected an unchanged XI from Saturday’s abandoned match at Charlton Athletic, implementing six alterations from the Bristol City defeat 10 days earlier.
Conor Chaplin, Minhyeok Yang, John Swift, Terry Devlin, Hayden Matthews and Ibane Bowat all earned starting berths. Colby Bishop, Adrian Segečić and Jordan Williams were named amongst the substitutes, whilst Andre Dozzell served a suspension and injuries sidelined Regan Poole and Josh Knight.
Both teams adopted attacking approaches during an open first period, creating promising opportunities at either end.
Jisung Eom delivered an early dangerous cross that narrowly evaded everyone before going out of play. Portsmouth responded on 10 minutes when Josh Murphy – jeered by the home supporters due to his Cardiff City connections – burst past Ben Cabango.
Though Murphy’s effort was blocked, the ball rebounded to Chaplin, whose shot required a fingertip save from Vigouroux to keep it out.
Cabango might have considered himself fortunate when he pulled back Callum Lang attempting to break clear, with referee Tom Reeves brandishing only a yellow card rather than red.
Swansea began threatening themselves when Ethan Galbraith squandered space on the right by firing over. He subsequently whipped in a dangerous delivery that somehow bypassed both Adam Idah and Ronald in Portsmouth’s penalty area.
The tempo dropped as half-time approached, though Cameron Burgess glanced Eom’s corner narrowly over at the near post. Murphy delivered a couple of corners for Portsmouth FC before Zak Swanson’s ambitious long-range drive sailed harmlessly over.
The hosts nearly broke the deadlock on 40 minutes following Reeves’ decision that Idah had fairly dispossessed Bowat. He located Melker Widell, who turned smartly inside the box and struck a low shot that Nicolas Schmid did excellently to deny.
Mousinho was forced into an early substitution after the restart, with Swanson appearing to injure his back and being replaced by Williams.
The second period began more cautiously than the first, though Idah rolled a straightforward effort into Schmid’s arms. Murphy attempted a shot from distance on 56 minutes that flashed narrowly wide of the post.
The winger threatened again moments later, cutting inside after Swift lost possession and forcing Vigouroux into a fine save with a powerful strike.
Swansea pressed forward and Eom’s swerving attempt required Schmid to tip over. Portsmouth subsequently defended a series of set-pieces, with Ronald’s shot from one being blocked by Chaplin.
Mousinho introduced a triple substitution on 70 minutes, withdrawing Chaplin, Minhyeok and Lang for Segečić, Harvey Blair and Bishop.
The Swans appealed for a penalty, but Reeves judged Murphy had touched the ball when Galbraith fell, resulting in boss Vítor Matos receiving a booking for his protests.
Portsmouth survived some scrambling in their box from a corner shortly afterwards, but Swansea took the lead on 78 minutes. Zeidane Inoussa pulled the ball back on the edge of the area and whilst Malick Yalcouyé couldn’t capitalise, fellow substitute Cullen lashed the ball home.
A final tactical change saw Mousinho replace centre-back Matthews with striker Makenzie Kirk for the closing stages.
Swansea nearly sealed victory moments later, with Schmid diving brilliantly to turn Ronald’s fierce shot around the post.
Portsmouth had a late opportunity to salvage a point deep into stoppage time when Murphy’s cross was headed back by Swift, but Segečić could only direct his effort over the crossbar.
Swansea City (4-1-4-1): Vigouroux; Galbraith (Casey 90), Cabango (c), Burgess, Tymon; Stamenić; Ronald, Franco (Yalcouyé 72), Widell (Cullen 56), Eom (Inoussa 72); Idah (Vipotnik 56)
Goal: Cullen 78
Booked: Cabango, Franco
Subs not used: Fisher, Key, Samuels-Smith, Fulton
Portsmouth (4-2-3-1): Schmid; Devlin, Matthews (Kirk 87), Bowat, Swanson (Williams 49); Pack (c), Swift; Minhyeok (Blair 70), Chaplin (Segečić 70), Murphy; Lang (Bishop 70)
Booked: Swift, Williams, Pack
Subs not used: Bursik, Sizer, Le Roux, Kosznovszky
Referee: Tom Reeves
Attendance: 18,163 (1,153 Portsmouth supporters)
