Swansea arrived at Fratton Park knowing a win would put them top of the Championship. They left having been beaten 3-1 in a game that swung back and forth late on, and that ended with players and staff caught up in a melee after the final whistle.
For Portsmouth, who had lost three of their first four league games this season, it was another sign of just how far they have come.
A first-half lead that looked like enough
Full-back Terry Devlin made the breakthrough late in the first half, guiding the ball home from ten yards after Swansea had lost possession in their own half. Pompey deserved the lead. They pressed high, forced mistakes and gave Swansea a taste of the medicine the Welsh side usually dishes out themselves.
The second half looked like it would be a long defence of a 1-0 lead, and for a long time that is what it was. Swansea were short of their best going forward almost throughout.
Vipotnik levels, then Devlin hits back
Then came the late drama. Substitute Zan Vipotnik coolly converted a penalty five minutes from time after Regan Poole was penalised for tugging the Slovenia striker's shirt. Three minutes later Swansea should have gone ahead, but Ross Stewart's effort struck the bar after Josh Key's inviting centre.
It was the kind of miss that haunts a team. In the second minute of added time Devlin drilled home from a half-cleared corner to restore Portsmouth's lead. With Swansea throwing players forward in search of another equaliser, Thomas Waddingham latched on to a long ball, got the better of Ben Cabango and made it 3-1.
Pompey's run, Swansea's slip
Portsmouth have now gone six games unbeaten. Their only defeat since 1 September was the derby with Southampton last month, and they have lost just one of their last ten. They climb to 10th and are outside the play-off places only on goal difference.
Swansea drop out of the automatic promotion places and into fourth. VÃtor Matos called for calm afterwards, and he will need it, because a team that had been enjoying a fine start to the campaign has now lost momentum at precisely the wrong moment.
Match facts: Portsmouth 3-1 Swansea City, Championship, Fratton Park, Tuesday 3 November 2026. Goals: Terry Devlin (late in the first half and the second minute of added time), Thomas Waddingham (after Devlin's added-time goal, exact minute not given in the BBC report); Zan Vipotnik (penalty, five minutes from time) for Swansea. Portsmouth are 10th and unbeaten in six; Swansea are fourth.
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