Report by Ben Davis

Although there are 16 games left Pompey must surely now be odds on favourites to go down which means the fans must suffer the pain of knowing their fate for the rest of the season. If Pompey were to get their act together then maybe there's a chance but on this sort of form I'm afraid there isn't even a sniff of a chance.
Mathias Svensson was back in the starting eleven replacing David Hillier who couldn't get a place on the bench. The Swede was linked with a move to rivals Charlton in midweek but he turned down the move. John Durnin recovered from a chest infection to play, but top scorer John Aloisi had to settle for a place on the bench.
Pompey were under pressure early on and the first real chance came when Durnin brought down Johnson 25-yards out. Smith stepped up and curled a shot just over Knight's bar. Pompey were getting into decent position's but Crewe's well organised defence was doing a good job of keeping the Blues out.
What shots Pompey did get in were weakly struck and proved no trouble for Crewe's keeper Kearton. In general is was a scrappy affair with neither side having a cutting edge over the other. Svensson though did fire a shot over after a McLoughlin cross hadn't been cleared properly.
Then in the 23rd minute Crewe were certain they had a penalty when from Garvey's through ball Little looked to be pulled back by Pethick in the area but referee Roy Pearson waved away their protests. McLoughlin was then booked for a foul on Lee Unsworth after Awford had gone off for treatment which was required after a clash with Crewe's striker Anthrobus.
Crewe wasted two good free-kick opportunities before, in the 38th minute, a mix up in Pompey's defence almost led to the opening goal. Lunt played a ball forward which saw Whitbread and Knight hesitate on who should clear it. Whalley saw his opportunity but from 12 yards he fired over to the relief of Pompey's keeper and captain.
Whitbread was in the action again when he sliced Little's cross inches over is own cross bar. Minutes before the break Lunt got in a shot from the edge of the box which Knight saved well and Pethick was on had to clear the loose ball.
Another mix up in Pompey's defence could have lead to Crewe taking the lead when Vlachos tried to shield to ball to Knight but the pair took their time over it and Little nipped in. Fortunately he could only hit it straight at Knight. Then in the 49th minute Vlachos made another error which did lead to Crewe taking the lead. He tried to smother the ball away for a goal kick but the lively Little stole the ball off him, rounded Knight, and fired it into an open goal with Whitbread and Awford unable to block the shot on the line.
Svensson then showed what a short fuse he has when he kicked the ball away after being cautioned for handball and was consequently booked. Crewe appealed for another penalty when Little was brought down by Vlachos but nothing was given.
Pompey's best chance came in the 57th minute when from McLoughlin's pass Claridge cleverly spun his marker and fired in a fine effort which was brilliantly flicked over by Kearton. However, Crewe cleared the corner and scored a second on the break. Bignot's 25-yarder was only parried by Knight giving Garvey a simple chance which he took.
Alan Ball made changes soon afterwards with Durnin and Svensson going off for Aloisi and Igoe. Yet things quite clearly were wrong and Pompey's discipline had gone right out of the window as Vlachos became the fourth player to go in the book for a foul on his tormentor Little. From a Crewe free-kick Walton headed just wide as the home side went in search of further goals.
Claridge did manage to get into Crewe's area but dragged a shot wide and with 18 minutes to go Crewe sealed the game. Little was at it again as he beat Whitbread and found Lunt on the edge of the area. His shot bobbled low past Knight's right hand and into the net off the post. Aloisi may have pulled a consolation back when Foster put him clear but he stabbed a shot wide of Kearton's goal.
The home side appealed for yet another penalty when Little went down under Knight's challenge and all that was given was a goal kick. Whalley flashed a shot just wide before Pompey did get a consolation goal. From Pompey's first corner of the game 9 minutes from time McLoughlin headed down Carter's cross to Aloisi who poked in his tenth goal of the season.
Pompey are now six points adrift and seven points from safety. There is still hope but it would mean Pompey needing to win at least 9 of their remaining 16 games. It's a tall order for a team with very low confidence.