The former Plymouth striker met Jed Wallace’s 31st-minute cross from the right with a first-time right-footed finish at the near post which arrowed the ball into the roof of the net at the end of a flowing move involving Yu Hirakawa and Jason Kinght.
Skipper Knight doubled the advantage on 57 minutes with a powerful header from a Rio Cardines corner and it wasn’t until deep into stoppage time that Pompey substitute Marezi pulled a goal back, sending goalkeeper Sam Tickle the wrong way with a low penalty after he had been fouled by Lisav Eissat.
Skubala said: “It was a fantastic finish for the first goal, but I have seen Lorent do that in training. What pleased me as much was that the move leading up to it came off the training ground because we had worked on hurting them in transition.
“Lorent was unlucky not to score in our last game and will gain a lot of confidence from his first goal. We have good attacking options now among our group of strikers.
“Jason Knight gave a captain’s performance and capped it with his goal. We are still in contract negotiations with him and I want to keep all my good players at the club.
“That was a training ground goal as well. We worked on getting Jason into a position to score and it was a great header.
“I thought our fans were outstanding. I know from experience how loud the Pompey supporters can be, but ours were brilliant and it was great to reward them with three points.
“It is not about me and getting my first win. The important thing was for the players to get a victory under their belts.
“I will have a glass of red wine with the staff and then get straight on with preparing for our next game against Preston on Tuesday.”
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho felt there was not much between the teams, but that his players could have done more to prevent the first goal.
He said: “It came because we were not patient enough in getting the ball forward. We went direct and left them space in midfield to counter attack.
“People complain when teams get caught playing out from the back, but sometimes it can be just as much of an error to lose possession by knocking balls forward too early.
“I don’t think there was a lot wrong with the team and there was not much to choose between the sides. We expected a tough game because of the way Bristol City have performed over the last couple of seasons.
“If we had gone in level at half time, there would have been the chance to reassess and it might have been a different outcome.
“The second goal was unacceptable. We had delegated someone to mark Jason Knight and to attack the ball in that zone.
“It was a stonewall penalty at the end because our player was held as the cross came in. Marezi took it well, but it wasn’t enough.
“We are still hoping to bring in a few players before the transfer deadline, but I am not sure how close we are.”