Here is what a selection of the national papers made of Pompey's version of the Great Escape.
The Sun
Wigan 1 Portsmouth 2
Harry Houdini produced another miracle escape as Portsmouth avoided the drop.
Harry Redknapp's side came from behind to secure their Premiership status after Birmingham failed to beat Newcastle.
The visitors should have been left sweating on their future at the break but the Latics only had Camara's strike to show for their dominance.
And Paul Jewell's men were made to pay in the second half as Benjani scored his first goal for Portsmouth and Taylor converted, after Gary Teale was sent off for deliberate handball in the area.
The Independent
Redknapp takes hero status in his stride
As confirmation came that their place in the Premiership was secure and almost everyone connected with Portsmouth let rip with their emotions, Harry Redknapp was the exception. He looked towards the stand, then ambled a few yards, head down. Even the cavorting players around him could not cajole a smile.
"I'm delighted for the supporters," Redknapp said. "They're the most important people." And the initial reaction to his return to Fratton Park? "I expected it," he replied. "In fairness they loved me the first time I was here."
The effect was like the flicking of a switch. Wigan, much the superior team in the first half, were barely seen in the second, and Portsmouth fully justified a victory secured by Benjani Mwaruwari's first goal in 15 matches since his £4.1m transfer and Matthew Taylor's second winning penalty in eight days.
The Observer
Taylor makes it safe for Portsmouth
After this rousing second half comeback, the Portsmouth players and Harry Redknapp waited for the news to come through from Birmingham. When the visiting support cheered a draw in the Midlands and a rather miraculous feat of Premiership survival, they broke on to the pitch for a good old-fashioned invasion.
Having hailed a beaming Milan Mandaric in the director's box, they gradually returned to their seats. Despite the ire of the Wigan support who were waiting for the club's player of the season award, the Portsmouth fans' reaction was understandable. This is football, after all.
The Guardian
Harry's houdini act makes boltin horse disappear
Harry Houdini, the legendary escapologist and master of the illusion, once made a 10,000lb elephant "disappear" on the sound of a pistol shot. Portsmouth fans, having deliriously applauded the escape in the JJB stadium, may soon begin to wonder if their own Harry, in conjunction with the chairman Milan Mandaric and the joint owner Alexandre Gaydamak, can ultimately transform the club and secure its long-term Premiership status or whether all is a trick of the light, accompanied by the sound of Redknapp blowing his own trumpet.
It is impossible to be certain whether these two clubs will thrive or struggle next season. Jewell will need to spend but, for all of David Whelan's wealth, thrift will remain the key word, and ultimately a bigger club will surely try to lure Jewell away. As for Portsmouth's mystery millions, Gaydamak was not present at the JJB stadium. "He seems a nice young guy," said Redknapp, who is set to negotiate a new contract imminently, although what happens next week or next month, let alone next season at Fratton Park is no more plain to fathom than Houdini's disappearing elephant.
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