Michael Obafemi's goal was his second since joining Plymouth on loan from Burnley
Plymouth Argyle rode their luck as Michael Obafemi's late goal helped them beat fellow Championship strugglers Portsmouth 1-0 at Home Park.
Portsmouth had a first-minute Regan Poole goal disallowed for offside as they dominated a goalless first half, spurning a number of chances to go ahead.
The visitors went close through Josh Murphy and Andre Dozzell early in the second period, while Jordan Houghton forced a good save from Pompey keeper Nicolas Schmid.
But substitute Obafemi outmuscled Poole after a long goal-kick before firing low into the far corner to earn Argyle's first win in five games.
The three points lifts Wayne Rooney's side out of the relegation places into 20th in the table while Pompey remain rooted to the bottom, five points from safety.
Matt Ritchie went close with a first-half diving header for Portsmouth
Having rested many of his first-choice attackers in the 3-0 loss at Leeds on Saturday, Rooney handed a full debut to Andre Gray up front as he made five changes, while Pompey made one change from the team that drew 1-1 at Hull on Saturday.
Portsmouth started superbly and had the ball in the home net after 48 seconds as Poole tapped in from close range, but he was offside when Connor Ogilvie’s shot came off the legs of Argyle keeper Dan Grimshaw and into his path.
John Mousinho’s side continued to pressurise Argyle in midfield and force errors - they almost went ahead when Ogilvie got above his marker at the back post, but his 16th-minute header was saved down low by Grimshaw.
More Pompey pressure saw Matthew Sorinola do enough to put off Josh Murphy at the far post from Callum Lang’s 28th-minute low ball across the Argyle six-yard box, while Matt Ritchie should have scored 10 minutes later when he got the better of Bali Mumba at the far post but headed into Grimshaw’s arms.
Argyle finally had an effort of note six minutes from the interval when a blocked Whittaker shot was headed on by Julio Pleguezuelo to Darko Gyabi, who missed the target from 10 yards as the hosts survived until the break.
But it was more of the same after the interval as Freddie Potts and Dozzell went close from distance, before Murphy was millimetres away from connecting with Kusini Yengi’s low cross from the right at the back post.
The hosts had their best effort so far soon after as Houghton’s low strike from 12 yards was palmed away by Schmid after good work from Freddie Issaka and Gray.
That 57th-minute chance got the Argyle crowd going - Whittaker was offside as he ran through and put the ball in the net five minutes later - and the introduction of Obafemi, Callum Wright and Mustapha Bundu livened up the home attack in the final quarter.
And it was the former Southampton forward who broke the hearts of their biggest rivals as the Republic of Ireland striker held off Poole after a long goal-kick before finishing from 10 yards out to complete a win Argyle did not really deserve.
Plymouth Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney told BBC Sport:
"I’m delighted with the three points.
"After the recent run of results the most important thing was we won the game, so I wasn’t really looking for a performance.
"Tonight was more about getting the basics right, and I thought first half we were overplaying at times and got caught. I was trying to get messages on for us to be more direct.
"It wasn’t the prettiest of games by any means, but the result was the most important thing tonight."
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent:
"It's probably the toughest one of the season from my standpoint because of the performance and because of what we created and how much we restricted Plymouth.
"To come away with nothing from the game is a real blow.
"We had the opportunities in the first half, we had plenty in the second half, even when Plymouth changed the way that they played, we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and we get done by a long ball.
"I think for all the world it's a foul that's given 50 other times in the game, so I can't understand why it's not given.
"But we have to be better to make sure that those decisions or a slip, or we get caught on the ball, they don't make a difference to the game because we need to put the ball in the back of the net at the other end."
