A LATE late penalty winner from Portsmouth's Matthew Taylor moved his side out of the Premiership's bottom three after they narrowly beat Sunderland to keep their hopes of survival alive. The home side had been punished for not taking their chances when Tommy Miller tapped in for the Black Cats after 70 minutes. But Svetoslav Todorov quickly equalised with a rising shot and Portsmouth desperately pressed for a winner. The prayers of thousands of fans within Fratton Park were answered when Kevin Kyle hand-balled and Taylor kept his cool to slot home the spotkick.

Sunderland were only playing for pride with their relegation already confirmed but they quickly had the home side on the backfoot early on.

A Danny Collins header from a Sunderland corner caused panic in the Portsmouth box before the ball was scrambled clear.

Then George McCartney seemed to escape giving away a penalty for handball at the other end as a deflected Andres D'Alessandro cross dropped into the visitors' box.

But Portsmouth were struggling to overpower their stubborn opponents who looked in the mood to deal a damaging blow to the south-coast side's survival fight. Goalkeeper Dean Kiely was twice forced to save well-struck shots from Sunderland duo Dean Whitehead and Tommy Miller.

Portsmouth did carry a threat on goal but their main chance fell to struggling striker Benjani Mwaruwari who has not scored since his arrival at the club in January. He did not lack a work ethic but lacked a clinical edge in front of goal after heading tamely at the far post before cutting inside and shooting straight at a defender when a first-time shot may have been more appropriate.

The Zimbabwe international's poor finishing seemed to transmit itself to fellow striker Todorov who twice missed good chances after the break.

He sidefooted over at the far post before scuffing a shot too close to keeper Kelvin Davis after being put through on goal.

Portsmouth's desperation for a win made for an entertaining game as they increased the pressure on their rivals in search of a breakthrough. And, after Davis saved an angled Mwaruwari shot, the Sunderland keeper pulled off a double save to further frustrate the home side. Firstly, he kept out a Davis low shot before quickly regrouping to block at the feet of Todorov as he tried to convert the loose ball.

But Harry Redknapp's side were putting so much effort into getting the opening goal that they were leaving themselves exposed at the back and they duly fell behind when a Sunderland counterattack resulted in Miller tapping in after an Arca cross.

The visitors' lead was shortlived, however, as Todorov found the top right corner with a 15-yard shot and Kyle's silly handball allowed Taylor the chance to score and earn a win for Portsmouth.

The late goals keep Redknapp's team in the running to beat the drop after rivals Birmingham and West Brom failed to win yesterday.