Ben Kennedy's penalty just three minutes after the restart put the Ports in front momentarily after Chris Shields bundled Eamon Fyfe to the ground inside the area.

Rhys Brennan then levelled for the visitors just eight minutes later with a fine right-footed strike from the edge of the box before Matthew Fitzpatrick secured all three points for the Blues in the 80th minute after forcing the ball home at the back post.

David Healy's side are now 12 league games unbeaten and sit at the Irish Premiership summit, a point ahead of Coleraine, who face Crusaders tomorrow afternoon.

Fitzpatrick secures three points for Blues

After a quiet start, Linfield began to flex their muscles and took control of the first half without really coming close to breaking the deadlock.

Rhys Brennan's strike from the edge of the box was the closest the Blues came to finding the breakthrough in the first half, with Aaron McCarey making just two real saves from Adam Frizzell and Fitzpatrick respectively despite the Blues' dominance.

The Ports finished the first half on top and had the ball in the back of the net, but Michael Hewitt's close range strike was ruled out for offside. Chris Johns made a smart save to deny Jack Scott with Hewitt following in, but he had strayed offside.

The hosts came straight out of the blocks after the restart and were awarded a penalty within two minutes as Shields bundled Fyfe to ground in the area, with Kennedy stepping up to fire the Ports into the lead.

Linfield responded swiftly and found themselves level again after Brennan fired past McCarey from the edge of the box into the bottom corner with a pinpoint right-footed strike.

The winner came in the 80th minute as Fitzpatrick forced the ball home at the back post following Kyle McClean's deep corner to complete the comeback for the Blues.

What the managers said

"Linfield have done really well to respond after some ridiculous talk at the start of the season when they were beaten in a freak result by Ballymena United at home.

"We knew the size of the task but it came down to the fact that if we'd defender the corner better we'd have got a point. That's it, end of story."

"We give away a penalty 90 seconds into the second half which is frustrating and disappointing, but we showed a bit of character again coming from behind.

"This is not an easy place to come. Excluding Portadown's loss in the League Cup they've been in good form, so we knew how difficult tonight would be."