Bristol City boosted their promotion hopes with a 1-0 victory at struggling Portsmouth to move into the Championship play-off positions and leave their hosts in the relegation zone.

A dominant first-half display from the visitors saw them take the lead through Anis Mehmeti on 17 minutes, the Albanian forward finishing a flowing move with a headed opener for a sixth league goal of his campaign.

And while John Mousinho's Pompey fought back to make it a contest in the second period, carving out chances late in the game as they searched desperately for an equaliser, they were unable to claim a point.

Defeat for the Fratton Park outfit made it just one win in their past nine league outings and, combined with a win for Sheffield United at Leicester, it saw Mousinho's men drop into the bottom three.

There was symmetry to a contest that featured hosts going into the game a point and a place outside the relegation zone and visitors who started a point and a place outside the top six.

Yet there was little balance on the field in an opening half that saw Bristol City charge out of the blocks and Pompey struggle to get any sort of a foothold.

Bristol City might have had a penalty with just 45 seconds on the clock only for claims to be waved away after Scott Twine tumbled over Regan Poole's leg as the pair challenged for a loose ball inside the area.

Replays showed referee Sam Allison was correct in deciding there was minimal contact as the Bristol City man was already on his way down.

The away fans did not have to wait long for their side to make good on that early promise though. Just 17 minutes were on the clock when Mehmeti proved the spear tip of a flowing move which started in the Bristol City backline and swept up field.

Neto Borges provided the assist on the left, swinging in a perfectly flighted cross which was met by the 24-year-old.

Pompey's sluggish start did not go down well with the home support who let the blue shirts know what they thought as Gerhard Struber's side continued to dominate.

Emil Riis forced a decent save with a long-range effort leading to further boos among the Pompey faithful.

Yet, with Josh Murphy a constant threat down the left, Portsmouth managed to get a toehold in the contest as the match moved towards the break and in the second half it was an even contest.

In the opening minute, Colby Bishop saw a bundled effort cleared off the line by Zak Vyner, while Murphy and Poole both had chances late on as Portsmouth pressed in vain.

Bishop had the best chance of the lot only for his first-time effort to be smothered by Radek Vitek after he was put through by Conor Chaplin on 85 minutes.

Bristol City were made to fight hard for victory in the end but hung on for a second win in their last three matches to breathe life into a promotion push which had shown signs of flatlining.

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho speaking to BBC Radio Solent:

"The game was defined by the opening 25 minutes where we weren't at the races at all and that's putting it kindly. We fell behind to a side who were much hungrier and looked like they wanted the challenge of coming here and winning the game a bit more.

"The league position is something we are not pleased with but what is more concerning is that first 25 minutes that we put on at home. There is plenty of time left in the season and there is no panic.

"We have plenty of games between now and Christmas but we can't keep going on and saying we have competed and nearly got there. I can take losing games but not in the manner that we produced in the first 25.

"Consistency has to change. We know we can produce and dominate sides but it has been far too up and down. If things aren't going well for us we can't seem to dig in and do the basics very well. We fall apart and that's a real concern."

Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber told BBC Radio Bristol:

"We prepared a really good atmosphere for ourselves today. We go into the game with a completely different understanding from Wrexham. To pick up points here in this stadium you have to come at a really good level performance-wise and the boys did that.

"I would say, yes, it was the best opening 30 minutes this season. I know it is really difficult how we deal with the atmosphere but it was on a really high level from them and I am really pleased with how we did it.

"To be here in the end you need every single player and we needed Radek [Vitek]. Of course this is part of the game here and we needed every single one. In the end we defended our goal with everything we had in the tank.

"A really big win and a massive win for our confidence."