Pompey push Sunderland deeper into relegation mire

Portsmouth 3 Sunderland 1. Sunderland find themselves perilously close to the relegation zone after a second-half mugging by fellow strugglers Portsmouth left Ricky Sbragia's side just two points out of the relegation zone and with Chelsea coming calling at the Stadium of Light on Sunday.

And yet after a first half which saw both sides come close, Kenwyne Jone's close-range shot put the visitors in the lead and thus avoiding the drop. This state of bliss lasted for less than a minute as John Utaka equalised at the other end with his first goal of the season after a clearing header was deflected into his path.

Worse defensive chaos followed when a howler by Anton Ferdinand allowed the ball through for Utaka. Phil Bardsley's sliding challenge on the Nigerian merely took the ball past his own keeper. Sunderland attacked with abandon for the final 22 minutes, but the knockout blow was always coming and Armand Traore's late finish with two minutes on the clock knocked all the fight out of Sbragia's team.

Sbragia was sanguine about his own future after the game, remarking: "You never know in this world. We could win and I could be sacked and we could lose and I might be sacked." What hope he has will stem from Chelsea's FA Cup final date a week after the sides meet this weekend, which could gift the Black Cats a home win in front of a pumped-up Mackem crowd that would secure their Premier League status.

The worst possible scenario sees wins for regional rivals Newcastle and Hull combining with a defeat by Guus Hiddink's side sending Sunderland down with Middlesbrough and West Brom.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYINGDominic Fifield, the Guardian: "The North-East will go into the final weekend in a collective state of panic. Sunderland passed up the opportunity to preserve their top-flight status here last night, clinging to a lead in a contest they had to win to guarantee survival for barely a minute before subsiding meekly beneath Portsmouth's riposte. In the end they had sunk without trace. The fear is they might not recover."

Kaveh Solhekol, the Times: "Nothing went right for Sbragia and his players after Jones’s 59th-minute goal. A catalogue of defensive mistakes and a high-octane second-half performance by a Portsmouth side who had nothing to play for except pride means that Sunderland’s season is going to the wire. 'I won’t be asking for an update from the other games on Sunday,' Sbragia said. 'I will just concentrate on what we have to do. We know it is going to be difficult but we can beat Chelsea - they might have their minds on the FA Cup Final.'" ·