Portsmouth 1-0 Leicester: Relegation looms for Foxes following away defeat | OneFootball

Portsmouth’s survival chances were boosted exponentially at Fratton Park this afternoon, with a 1-0 win over relegation rivals Leicester City.

Ibane Bowat came off the bench to net the only goal of the game, in the 63rd minute, and earn a vital three poin ts for the South Coast side.

As It Happened

The hosts started strong, winning a string of corners in the opening five minutes, but couldn’t find the net. Pompey were then forced into a change just a few minutes later, when Keshi Anderson was withdrawn through injury and replaced by the club’s top scorer this term, Adrian Segecic.

Leicester fans and players appealed for a penalty in the tenth minute; their claims were waved away by today’s referee, Gavin Ward. Another change was enforced through injury for Portsmouth in the 16th minute, when Terry Devlin was replaced by Bowat after the former appeared to suffer a hamstring injury.

Connor Chaplin almost broke the deadlock shortly after, but his left-footed effort couldn’t find the target. Both sides continued to search for the opener, but neither could find the net before the break.

Chaplin came close again at the start of the second 45, forcing Asmir Begovic into a strong save at his near post. Hamza Choudhury and Stephy Mavididi looked to get the away team on the scoresheet on the hour mark, but neither player could find the net.

Bowat netted the eventual winner for Portsmouth a few minutes later, when he poked home from close range following a corner. Leicester responded with a double change that saw Choudhury and Mavididi replaced by Jordan James and Divine Musaka as they looked to find an equalising goal. Choudhury was booked on his way off the pitch.

Patson Daka and Musaka almost found a leveller for The Foxes; however, Nicolas Schmid stood tall in the Portsmouth goal to deny them. Daka was shown a yellow card with 15 minutes left to play following a bad foul on the keeper.

Both sides made changes after this, with Bobby Reid making way for Jordan Ayew, whilst Segecic and Chaplin were replaced by Jacob Brown and Ebou Adams for the hosts. Ayew and Marlon Pack were both shown yellow cards in the 90th minute for a coming together inside the Pompey half.

Leicester’s final change saw Ricardo Pereira replaced by teenage defender Olabade Aluko. Brown was booked in the 92nd minute, bringing the game to an end and confirming a crucial three points for Portsmouth, whilst simultaneously all but confirming Leicester’s relegation to League One.