Portsmouth boss John Mousinho was delighted to end his side’s rotten away run as second-half goals from Andre Dozzell and Mark O’Mahony earned a 2-0 win at Oxford.
The win, Mousinho’s first back at his old club, halted a run of seven straight defeats on the road for Pompey.
The game was suspended for 30 minutes in the first half because of a medical emergency in the crowd, with Oxford later confirming a supporter had suffered a cardiac arrest but was resuscitated and was in a stable condition in hospital.
Mousinho, a former player and coach at Oxford, was making his third return to the Kassam Stadium, the previous two matches having finished as draws.
He said: “You’ve got to take any emotion out of it and treat it as just another game – and another away victory for us.
“It was a hard-fought victory and a tight one.
“But I thought we did enough to win the game. We had enough chances to go two or three up after Dozzell’s goal.
“I’m delighted with the away win. Obviously the circumstances of the game – and to come out of the week with six points is brilliant. We’ve just got to keep going.
“The stoppage in the game was difficult for both teams. We had played 12 minutes before it and we were really good in those first 12 minutes.
“We didn’t really adjust to the stoppage that well and dropped off a bit.
“But it would be crass of me not to mention the man who needed the medical attention. The communications we got is that he was breathing and stable, which is good.”
It was a first home defeat for Oxford boss Gary Rowett, who was left to rue two missed chances from headers late on by substitutes Stan Mills and Matt Phillips.
Rowett said: “My immediate thoughts are for the supporter that needed the medical attention.
“From what I gather, they managed to revive the guy and get him into an ambulance. He was there with his son, so our thoughts first and foremost are that he’s OK.
“When players have to go off the pitch and the game is suspended it becomes a bit of a fractured first half and it’s hard to create any sort of continuity or rhythm within that.
“We were just a bit too rigid first half, we needed to play with a little more freedom.
“We got into some really good positions, it was just that final pass, that final action.
“When we showed composure we got into good areas. We had three absolutely clear-cut chances and we should score from at least one of them.
“Both goals were poor to give away from us and it was a disappointing performance overall, but I thought we did more than enough to get something out of the game.
“We had one great moment where Stan flashed the ball across the box, the space was there and everyone pulled back for a nice goal. You don’t score nice goals all the time in the Championship, sometimes you have to throw yourself in there.
“And then two great opportunities from headers where we should score.
“But we can’t dwell on this defeat. There will be a lot of teams in the Championship wishing they’d only lost two in 12.”
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