It was a much better performance compared to some we have seen on the road from Portsmouth recently, but still not quite good enough to get anything from their match at Sunderland.
Pompey gave away a sloppy early goal but were more solid after that. Rob Atkinson looked good after coming off the bench for his debut.
They had their chances on the break but were not as clinical as they needed to be in front of goal.
The home form has been excellent but it is now four losses in a row on the road.
Portsmouth cannot rely exclusively on their home form to keep them out of the bottom three.