Josh Murphy’s cool first-half strike gave Portsmouth a 1-0 victory over Blackburn to add weight to their survival chances and put a dent in Rovers’ play-off hopes.
Murphy’s superb one-two and finish lit up a low-quality affair which condemned Valerien Ismael’s Blackburn to a fourth straight defeat and extended his winless start as Rovers manager.
Ismael is now five matches without a win since replacing John Eustace – who failed to record a victory in any of his first 10 games – with Blackburn now five points adrift of the top six after dropping to 11th.
Portsmouth, meanwhile, ended a two-match losing run to pull out a seven-point buffer on the relegation zone.
Pompey have scored 19 points at home since the turn of the year, more than anyone else in the Championship, so it was no surprise when they opened the scoring.
A shot-less opening 20 minutes was broken by Murphy’s seventh goal of the season. Andre Dozzell picked up on a loose defensive header before playing the ball to the winger, who got into the box via a one-two with Colby Bishop before beautifully curling into the bottom corner.
Rovers attempted to bounce straight back and Ryan Hedges, a 13th-minute substitute, bounded into the penalty area but his fierce effort was saved by Nicolas Schmid at the near post.
Murphy then had Pompey’s second and last shot of the first half when he drilled a low effort from 25 yards, but Aynsley Pears easily gathered on the dive.
The hosts edged the midfield battle but it was Rovers who had the better chances on the approach to half-time.
Cauley Woodrow, on his first Blackburn start since arriving on loan from Luton, thought he had caught Schmid out from 45 yards but the goalkeeper recovered to catch the lob.
Woodrow then produced a stunning cross to the back post but ex-Portsmouth loanee Hayden Carter could not squeeze the ball in.
Yuki Ohashi barely made Schmid work with a tame header and Lewis Travis skied over the bar from the edge of the area as Rovers continued to lack quality after the break.
Carter also cleared the goal after a fine passing move, while Terry Devlin ended a 45-minute wait for a shot by having an effort deflected just wide.
Blackburn had plenty of the ball in the second half but loose passes cost them whenever they threatened, with their last shot coming in the 67th minute.
And Pompey could have grabbed a late second when a defensive mix-up gave Devlin a chance to capitalise, but the ball would not fall for him.
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Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four as Enzo Fernandez’s header early in the second half earned a 1-0 derby win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.Enzo Maresca’s side were under pressure after limping into the international break playing football that had ceased to excite home fans, but they largely had the better of a disappointing Spurs team that failed to tak...

David Moyes believes James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid a red card for his reckless challenge on Alexis Mac Allister as Everton were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal, which Moyes claimed should have been ruled out for offside, gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were...

Jack Grealish dedicated his goal to his late brother after scoring in Manchester City’s 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Leicester on Wednesday.The England international hit his first Premier League goal for 16 months, on his first start in the competition since last December, as City moved back into fourth with a comfortable success at the Etihad Stadium.It came on the 25th anniversary of...

David Moyes bemoaned an “offside” goal that gave Liverpool a 1-0 win over Everton – but admitted James Tarkowski was lucky to avoid an early red card on a controversial night at Anfield.Diogo Jota’s 57th-minute goal gave Liverpool a 100th derby win and moved them a step closer to the Premier League title, but both sides were left unhappy with decisions from referee Sam Barr...

Eddie Howe hailed Sandro Tonali’s shooting power after seeing him cap a fine display with a stunning winner to edge Newcastle into the race for Champions League qualification.The 24-year-old Italy international brought an incident-packed encounter to a fitting conclusion with a 74th-minute piledriver which beat goalkeeper Mark Flekken from an improbable angle to hand the Magpies a precious 2...

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery believes Marcus Rashford is “progressively getting better” in all aspects of his game following his first Premier League goal for the club.The on-loan Manchester United forward set Villa on course for a comprehensive 3-0 win over fellow European hopefuls Brighton with a 51st-minute finish at the Amex Stadium.Rashford’s milestone strike came three days ...

Southampton boss Ivan Juric vowed to keep fighting as relegation moved sharply into focus after Crystal Palace denied them only a third Premier League win of the season.Substitute Matheus Franca’s stoppage-time header, to secure a 1-1 draw for the Eagles, means Saints will be down at the weekend if they lose at Tottenham and Wolves beat Ipswich.If relegation is confirmed on Sunday, Southampt...

Derby boss John Eustace insists his side are reaping the rewards for the hard work they have put in since he was appointed as manager after the Rams earned a 2-0 win over Preston to climb out of the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.Derby came out firing after a lacklustre opening period and Craig Forsyth coolly slotted the hosts in front with his fourth goal of the season.The Rams doubled thei...

Notts County manager Stuart Maynard hailed a “massive” three points as his side comfortably saw off MK Dons at Meadow Lane to maintain their promotion challenge.Two stunning strikes from David McGoldrick and Will Jarvis from the edge of the box, either side of Nick Tsaroulla’s close-range effort, earned County a convincing 3-0 win.“I think every three points is massive now,...



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