
Southampton battled to beat Portsmouth in the Championship and win their first league match against the Blues in nearly 22 years.
Saints scored the game’s only goal in the first half when James Bree was found dashing into the box by Finn Azaz, taking a touch before slotting the ball past Pompey keeper Nicolas Schmid.
The hosts were reduced to 10 men before the break when Cameron Bragg was shown a second yellow card for pulling Ebou Adams to the ground.
But Saints held on to see the game out and claim the bragging rights over their bitter Hampshire rivals, moving up to 11th in the table in the process.
This was the first game for Southampton’s head coach Tonda Eckert since being handed a suspended six-week ban and a £28,000 fine by the FA for his role in the Spygate scandal.
The club have stood by him throughout the saga and the way Saints rolled up their sleeves in the second half, a man down, suggests the players are firmly behind the German too.