Anis Mehmeti scores as Bristol City beat struggling Portsmouth

Anis Mehmeti gave Bristol City a deserved 1-0 win at Portsmouth to lift the Robins back into the Championship play-off places.

Mehmeti’s early goal was enough for the visitors as hosts Pompey dropped into the relegation zone having won only one of their last nine league games.

It took John Mousinho’s side until the 78th minute to have their first shot on target when Makenzie Kirk saw his effort comfortably saved by Radek Vitek.

In truth City boss Gerhard Struber will be disappointed his superior team did not win by a wider margin.

City should have gone ahead in the first minute when Neto Borges broke down the left and teed up Scott Twine who stumbled at the key moment and dragged his effort wide.

Struber’s side were much the brighter in the opening stages at Fratton Park, with Pompey struggling to stem the flow through midfield.

City were having as much as 75 per cent of possession and it was no surprise they took the lead when Mehmeti headed powerfully beyond Nicolas Schmid from Borges’ well-judged cross.

The boos were growing louder from the home stands with Mousinho’s side being completely outplayed.

Mehmeti soon came close to doubling his tally as he dragged a shot just wide following another flowing move.

Gradually the home team began to get a foothold in the game, but their only chance of note in a one-sided first half came when Josh Knight headed Adrian Segecic’s free-kick over the bar.

But the sun came out at half-time and, finally, so did Pompey.

They almost equalised seconds after the restart as Andre Dozzell crossed for Colby Bishop who failed to get a clean contact and the ball bobbled across the goal line before being cleared to safety.

With the game becoming more stretched, City took advantage of a gap and their two most dangerous players, Twine and Mehmeti, almost combined to score with Schmid saving well from the latter’s low effort.

With home frustration growing, referee Sam Allison booked three Pompey players in quick succession as tensions threatened to boil over.

The south coast side had still failed to hit the target but Josh Murphy did strike a half volley just wide of the post from 20 yards out with 68 minutes on the clock.

City still retained their threat and a quick free-kick again gave Mehmeti a chance to shoot but Regan Poole reacted sharply to block him.

With five minutes left, Vitek made a magnificent save to deny Bishop from point-blank range after a clever pass from Conor Chaplin.

There was one further chance for the home side when Knight headed wide from a good position when unmarked and Pompey’s woes continued.