Portsmouth Vs Hull City — Matt Crooks gives Tigers narrow victory at Fratton Park
Matt Crooks scored the only goal as Hull City left Fratton Park with a 1-0 win, a result that mattered for both sides in the Championship: portsmouth vs hull city ended with Hull keeping pressure on the automatic-promotion places while Portsmouth were left ruing a night of dominance gone to waste.
Crooks capitalises on Segecic error to net decisive goal
The deadlock was broken after a defensive lapse when Adrian Segecic played a short pass that put Nicolas Schmid under pressure. Schmid scrambled the ball away from a diving Oli McBurnie but only as far as Matt Crooks, who slid in to send the ball into an empty net, producing the match's only goal and a narrow victory for the visitors.
Pompey control first half but fail to convert chances
Portsmouth had by far the better of the first half, dominating possession and creating the clearer chances. The home side thought they had taken the lead after Joe Gelhardt's effort was saved and Oli McBurnie headed the rebound home, only for the linesman's flag to go up for offside. Lewis Koumas had earlier delivered a low ball into the box for Gelhardt, who fired straight at Nicolas Schmid. Terry Devlin tested the opposition goalkeeper with a long-range effort that drew an unconvincing save, and Regan Poole forced a close-range stop as Portsmouth pressed.
Two different tallies from the match record Portsmouth's heavy pressure in the opening 45: one account put Pompey on 69% of possession with all 14 of the other shots in the half, while another tally recorded 15 attempts on goal for Portsmouth in the first half.
Ivor Pandur kept busy as Hull defended resolutely
Hull's goalkeeper Ivor Pandur was kept busy throughout, producing a terrific close-range save from Regan Poole and pushing away a piledriver from Zak Swanson from about 25 yards. Pandur also dealt with a sequence when a shot by Terry Devlin was fumbled, a rebound that Colby Bishop could not convert and prompted questions over a possible dragback penalty. Later, Swanson forced another save and Millenic Alli saw a low shot blocked as Portsmouth peppered the Hull goal but failed to find a leveller.
Despite being limited to only two shots, Hull made theirs count: Crooks' tap-in secured the clean sheet and the win for the Tigers.
Hull strengthen promotion bid and extend away run
The victory kept Hull City's bid for automatic promotion alive. The Tigers are now just three points behind second-placed Middlesbrough and have recorded five away wins in a row — the club's best run on the road since 1966. The result also ensured Hull continued to apply pressure on the top two in the Championship automatic-promotion race. Hull now face what could be a pivotal week with fixtures against promotion rivals Ipswich Town and Millwall.
For Portsmouth the defeat left them 19th and five points clear of the relegation zone. The home side also suffered back-to-back home defeats for only the third time since their return to the second tier.
Frustration at Fratton Park and post-match reaction
At Fratton Park — where the attendance was 20, 228 — Pompey head coach John Mousinho and the home fans were left to reflect on another frustrating evening after a dominant first half yielded no reward. The match also featured moments that suggested Hull had begun brightly, with Joe Gelhardt and Oli McBurnie combining inside the opening minute only for McBurnie's goal to be ruled out for offside; the Tigers had been hoping to build on momentum from a midweek win over Derby.
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