It took Christian Saydee just three minutes to make a massive impact on Pompey’s bid for League One promotion.
The forward replaced Callum Lang – who had seen his early opener cancelled out by a penalty – just over an hour into a Fratton clash with Oxford.
After collecting Marlon Pack’s pass, he raced clear and calmly slotted home what proved to be the winner.
And John Mousinho was thrilled that his summer signing managed to net his first league goal for the club at such a crucial time.
The Blues boss said: “It was a collective decision to bring on Christian and we wanted to protect Langy because he was booked in the first half.
“You could tell with the celebration what it meant and I was delighted for him because it’s definitely deserved.
“He’s found himself in and out of the squad and it’s been tough, but he’s kept his head down and done well in training, working on aspects of his game that needed to get better.
"When you have so much time it’s not always a good thing, but he was able to find the bottom corner and I think everyone will be pleased for him."
“The fans have seen it all from him before, except for the finish, so it was great to see such a composed finish.
“When you have so much time it’s not always a good thing, but he was able to find the bottom corner and I think everyone will be pleased for him.”
Mousinho was pleased his table-topping side were able to see off his former side in an absorbing south coast contest.
He said: “It’s a brilliant result – and in important one. It was a game between two good sides going at it, with Oxford causing us problems.
“There were times when I thought it would be tough to get a result and I was proved right, but at this stage of the season, the only thing that matters is winning.
“It started well with the goal and the tempo was right up there, although we perhaps felt sorry for ourselves after the equaliser, which came against the run of play.
“We were the architects of our own downfall with that one, but I think Oxford will cause problems for a lot of sides.
“It’s the sign of a good team that you can grind out a win with goals from different players – and thankfully, that’s exactly what we did.”