BRANDON Thomas-Asante scored a brace as Coventry City claimed a 2-1 win at Portsmouth to remain top of the Championship table.
Thomas-Asante netted either side of half time at Fratton Park while Makenzie Kirk netted a late consolation for the home side.
And the result means Coventry stay top of the Championship table, four points clear of Middlesbrough who have a game in-hand.
Coventry went close early on as Joe Bursik made a diving save to prevent Victor Torp’s corner from the left from going directly into the net.
A goalmouth scramble ensued following the set-piece as Pompey eventually managed to clear their lines.
The home side felt they should have had a penalty at the other end when Yang Min-Hyeok’s cross struck the arm of Jay Dasilva with the referee unmoved.
Pompey went close soon after as Regan Poole headed a cross from the right inches past the post.
Coventry then had an effort cleared off the line as Ellis Simms saw his goalbound effort cleared by the retreating Zak Swanson.
However, the Sky Blues broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark when Thomas-Asante finished from close range after Bobby Thomas and Simms helped a corner from the right towards goal.
And Coventry doubled their lead on 56 minutes as Simms won poessession close to the left touchline and played a through ball into the path of Thomas-Asante who coolly finished past Bursik.
Thomas-Asante almost completed his hat-trick later in the half as he lashed a volley against the crossbar from 15-yards out with Bursik beaten.
The forward continued to torment the Pompey defence as Thomas-Asante saw a curling effort from 20-yards out pushed to safety by Bursik.
And Simms then spurned a golden chance to seal the points when he turned Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s cutback well wide of the post.
Portsmouth hit the post in the final minute as Conor Chaplin’s low drive from 25-yards out hit the base of the upright.
The home side eventually halved the deficit six minutes into injury time when substitute Kirk lobbed Carl Rushworth with Liam Kitching just unable to intercept Terry Devlin’s through ball.
However, despite conceding for the first time in six matches, the Sky Blues held on to stretch their winning run to five games with City unbeaten in 11 league outings.
Coventry are next in action against Watford on Saturday, October 25 with kick-off at 12.30pm at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
