Greening's late payment taxes poor Portsmouth

Fulham 1 Portsmouth

The more dire the situation becomes, the better Portsmouth seem to play. Six points adrift from safety, facing a winding-up order at the High Court next week and on the brink of yet another takeover, Portsmouth produced one of their best performances at Fulham, only to lose out to Jonathan Greening's first goal for the club late in game.

On the face of it, the visit of Premier League whipping boys Portsmouth could not have come at a better time for Fulham. Roy Hodgson's injury-hit side have been in rotten form since they beat Manchester United 3-0 in mid December, taking just one point out of a possible 18.

Yet despite their perilous situation, staring down the double barrels of financial apocalypse and likely relegation, it was Portsmouth who were the better side for much of this contest, and have every right to feel aggrieved that their efforts earned them no reward.

Mark Schwarzer made several fine saves, particularly in the first half, as Portsmouth dominated possession and created a string of decent chances. Frederic Piquionne should really have scored when Jamie O'Hara put him in the clear, but his shot was too close to Schwarzer's imposing frame. Schwarzer also kept out two efforts from Aruna Dindane and one shot from Kevin-Prince Boateng as Portsmouth mounted a succession of impressive attacks.

The midfield energy of Boateng and O'Hara was too much for Fulham, who were pressed on to the back foot for long periods. Hodgson gave Fulham debuts to new signings Nicky Shorey and 20-year-old Italian striker Stefano Okaka in an attempt to patch up his side which has been struck by injuries to several key players. Okaka marked his debut by making one of the misses of the season, a header from just three yards out that he glanced past the far post.

Portsmouth's luck ran out in the 74th minute. Damien Duff robbed Nadir Belhadj, one of three players back from African Cup of Nations duty for Portsmouth, on the Fulham right and crossed for Bobby Zamora who missed his attempt. The ball rolled to Greening who had time to take stock before guiding his shot low past David James from 12 yards. It was Greening's first goal since moving on loan from West Bromwich Albion last summer, and Fulham's first in the league for nearly six hours.

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant, who moaned afterwards that Zamora had been offside, praised the character shown by his players. "I am very proud because it's good for football that we showed that even with all the problems off the pitch and being bottom of the league we show the spirit of the game and try to play good football all the time," he said.

Hodgson generously conceded his team had been outplayed for much of the match. "The most important thing was to bring our run of bad results to an end," Hodgson said. "We had to grind out a result and show determination to get something from the game, even it was only a 0-0 draw. As it happened we were a bit lucky and won 1-0."

Hodgson's kind words were scant consolation for Portsmouth who now have two daunting away fixtures coming up – at Manchester United on Saturday and the High Court on Wednesday when the club must pay £7.5m to HM Revenue and Customs or face liquidation. Much rests on this latest takeover.

Fulham (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Kelly (Dikgacoi, 55), A Hughes, Hangeland, Shorey; Duff, Murphy, Baird, Greening; Zamora (Elm, 77), Okaka (Nevland, 70). Substitutes not used: Zuberbühler (gk), Riise, Stoor, Smalling.

Portsmouth (4-4-2): James; Finnan, Wilson, Ben Haim, Belhadj; Yebda, Basinas (Owusu-Abeyie, 82), Boateng, O'Hara; Dindane, Piquionne (Webber, 62). Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk), Rocha, Mullins, Vanden Borre, R Hughes.

Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire).

Booked: Portsmouth Ben Haim.

Man of the match: Boateng.

Attendance: 21,934.