Late Winner Boosts Portsmouth's Survival Hopes and Dents Middlesbrough's Promotion Bid

In a dramatic turn of events, Portsmouth scored the decisive goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time, dealing a significant blow to Middlesbrough's fading promotion hopes and giving their own Championship survival ambitions a substantial lift. The visitors had been unable to find the target until a late volley from Andre Dozzell, which was deflected in by Conor Chaplin, ended an eight-game winless streak for John Mousinho's side. Middlesbrough are now without a win in six games, trailing second-placed Ipswich by three points, with Ipswich having two games in hand after their victory at Norwich earlier in the day. Portsmouth's win keeps them a point and a place above the relegation zone, thanks to Chaplin's late winner. Despite dominating possession and having 20 shots to Portsmouth's three, Middlesbrough have only managed four goals in their last six games, with two coming in a draw against Swansea on Monday. Kim Hellberg's side started strongly, with Alan Browne forcing a good early save from Nicolas Schmid, but they struggled to create meaningful opportunities. For all their dominance in the first half, Boro's only other effort on target was a close-range header from Dael Fry saved by Schmid in the last minute of the half. The home side had a glorious chance to break the deadlock early in the second half when David Strelec split the Portsmouth defense with a through-ball, but Schmid denied Riley McGree with his feet. Boro then had another opportunity when Tommy Conway robbed Regan Poole of possession, sparking a two-on-one attack, but Conway opted to pass rather than shoot, and his attempt was intercepted. Portsmouth launched a rare attack midway through the second half, but Terry Devlin's pass to Colby Bishop ended with the striker's audacious flick going wide. Boro nearly forced a breakthrough in added time, but half-time substitute Sontje Hansen saw his shot cleared off the line by Dozzell. Portsmouth won a corner at the other end, and Fry's headed clearance reached Dozzell, whose first-time strike deflected in off his teammate. Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg expressed his disappointment, stating that the performance was poor, especially in the first half, which he described as 'like watching paint dry.' He acknowledged that the team's best spell was in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half but felt they were not efficient enough to score. Portsmouth manager John Mousinho hailed the result as 'amazing' and emphasized the importance of picking up points at this stage of the season. He acknowledged that his side had to defend for long periods and got lucky with the winning goal, something they had been lacking this season.