Pompey fight on after beating Palace

Scott Allan and Greg Halford both grabbed deflected strikes to keep the faint chances of staying in the Championship going for the Blues.

Darren Ambrose’s 71st minute penalty made for a nervy finale at Fratton Park.

But Michael Appleton’s men held on to live to fight another day in the English game’s second tier.

It was breathless stuff for long periods in a remarkably open affair.

Both sides had plenty of chances with Chris Maguire, Luke Varney and Palace’s Antonio Pedroza going close before Allan’s 30 yarder was deflected past Julian Speroni in the 32nd minute.

There was a slice of luck about Pompey’s second 10 minutes after the restart, with Halford’s header having a heavy deflection off Speroni.

Pompey made it hard for themselves when Varney messed up a clearance and then pulled down Wilfried Zaha in the box for Ambrose to convert.

But Pompey held on for the win to hit 40 points - five points from safety with two games left.

It’s still a massive long shot for Appleton’s men to stay up, but they are still alive - with Bristol City now needing two points from their remaining two games to condemn the Blues to League One.