Portsmouth manager John Mousinho says his side are still looking over their shoulders after Plymouth boosted their hopes of avoiding Championship relegation with a crucial 2-1 win at Fratton Park.
Argyle withstood a late Portsmouth onslaught after goals from Mustapha Bundu and Ryan Hardie put them in command against a lacklustre Pompey outfit who failed to hit the heights of their win over leaders Leeds.
A late red card for Argyle’s Matthew Sorinola sparked Pompey into life and a fine strike from Adil Aouchiche launched late siege, but the visitors doggedly hung on.
Pompey failed to take advantage of the extra man and 11 minutes of added time, leaving Mousinho to issue a warning that his side are not safe.
“I cannot emphasise it enough,” Mousinho said. “The clubs around us are picking up points and we need to scrap for every point we can.”
Argyle carved out the game’s first real clear-cut chance after 12 minutes when a ball looped over a square Portsmouth back line sent Hardie through on goal but Nicolas Schmid – the hero of Pompey’s win over league leaders Leeds at the weekend – plunged low to his right to save.
Despite dominating possession Portsmouth found it difficult to break down Plymouth’s deep-lying defence but that might have changed after 20 minutes when Marlon Pack stepped forward to intercept a pass and released Jacob Murphy down the left, with his dangerous cross met by an alert Jordan Houghton just ahead of Colby Bishop.
Plymouth grew in confidence as the half grew and snatched the lead two minutes before half time.
Hardie swung in little more than a hopeful cross which was not dealt with by the Portsmouth defence and the ball dropped kindly for Bundu, who curled home a precise shot.
Plymouth extended their lead after the break when Hardie picked up a loose pass just inside his own half and, with Pompey caught pushing forward, had a clear run on goal to finish past Schmid.
Sorinola’s needless booking for time-wasting came to haunt him as a foul earned him a second yellow, with Pompey taking immediate advantage when Aouchiche rifled a shot from 20 yards past Hazard after 89 minutes.
But Pompey failed to threaten Argyle in 11 minutes of added time and the contrasting performance to the win over Leeds forced Mousinho to admit: “They are two different games.
“It was not a case of the players being more up for a game against the league leaders. Plymouth came here tonight with a game plan and we had to be smarter and make better decisions to break them down.”
Plymouth coach Miron Muslic was delighted with his side’s first away win of the season.
He said: “The players deserved this and we are still in there fighting.
“A win like this can only give us more confidence to believe that we can get out of this situation.
“We defended well, especially at the last with a lot of stoppage time. We held our concentration and deserved to come away with the points.”
