Barnsley hit trouble

Barnsley's march towards the Premiership has slowed to a crawl after they were well beaten last night by a Portsmouth side still aiming for the First Division promotion play-offs.

A 4-2 defeat at Fratton Park, after failing to beat Crystal Palace on Saturday, has started to make the South Yorkshire side sweat. That pressure could become even more intense if third-placed Wolves beat Grimsby tonight at Molineux and close the gap to two points, with two matches to play for both sides.

Lee Bradbury was the hero for Portsmouth, who are now one point away from the play-off zone, with a hat-trick. Ipswich climbed to fourth place, two points behind Wolves, after a Steve Sedgley penalty earned a 1-0 win over Manchester City.

In the Premiership, Chelsea beat Wimbledon 1-0 at Selhurst Park. Dan Petrescu, set up by an astute Gianfranco Zola pass, scored the first-half winner. Zola limped off with a thigh muscle injury in the last minute, and could miss Italy's World Cup qualifier against Poland in Naples next week.