MANCHESTER City and Emmanuel Adebayor kept up their perfect record with their third Premier League win from three.
Adebayor's 30th minute header was enough to win the Fratton Park clash but the margin of victory would have been comfortable had a Micah Richards' strike not been wrongly scratched off by a linesman flag while Carlos Tevez had a penalty shout turned down late on.
New signing Joleon Lescott made his league debut while Craig Bellamy replaced Robinho from the side that defeated Crystal Palace in midweek.
City created the first meaningful chance when Carlos Tevez fired narrowly wide from a free-kick after Portsmouth defender Richard Hughes picked up a yellow card for a foul on Stephen Ireland.
Another set-piece caused confusion in Pompey's penalty area, with goalkeeper Asmir Begovic fumbling under pressure from Lescott then saving bravely at the feet of Micah Richards.
Adebayor's opener, on the half-hour mark, was a goal of simplicity. Gareth Barry's inswinging corner from the right found the former Arsenal striker, who escaped the attention of Aaron Mokoena and planted his header home from close range.
Richards then had a goal wrongly chalked off for offside following a slick move that saw Tevez send Bellamy down the flank with a reverse ball through Niko Kranjcar's legs.
In the second half Adebayor squeezed between Tommy Smith and Younes Kaboul with a neat turn to fool the Pompey pair, then his finish was saved by Begovic.
Richards suffered an injury just before the hour mark, with his left leg locking, and needed to be replaced by Pablo Zabaleta and Ireland limped out later to be replaced by Nigel de Jong.
Bellamy and Adebayor had half chances but Pompey almost snatched an undeserved equaliser late on.
Substitute David Nugent found space in the box but his volley into the ground and keeper Shay Given blocked it away.
Then a driven cross was glanced by John Utaka but rebounded safely to Given.
With 30 seconds to go, Tevez chased a long ball and appeared to be yanked back but referee Howard Webb waved play on.
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Dan..., a true blue (30/08/2009 at 15:34)
BLUE BOY!! MANCHESTER NOT LONDON!!, Manchester (30/08/2009 at 15:41)
I thought pompey could have nicked a point with Deturgent near the end there...but well played Shay yet again...and another clean sheet.
Is it early doors or me ...Is Tevez not being fed enough decent balls through to get goals under his belt...he seems lonely and not in it a lot of the game.
Sorry I could not be there, but unfortunately I have to graft on a bank hol monday...
WELL DONE BLUES.
NUFF SAID!!
Kryten, Red Dwarf (30/08/2009 at 15:43)
Then we'll see what your lads are really made of.
If you build it, they will come, Denton (30/08/2009 at 15:44)
Thought Barry was MOM, Ireland looked subdued with touches of class, Toure and Lescott outstanding and just a note for those critcising Richards......Zabs was unluckily booked but lost Nugent for the pompey chance...poor defending.
Adebayor and Tevez were excellent first half and, but for some awful decisions, we would have won that game by 3 or 4.
All those Dunnie lovers.....Toure & Lescott were dominant. If Dunne had been playing, Piquenne would have given him problems...anyway thats Villa's problem now.
Bert Trautmann's FG42 , The Eastern Front of Manchester (30/08/2009 at 15:45)
100% record...
2 away wins already ...
AND we're still not clicking right yet!
AND Hughes had the balls to drop Robbie!
AND we're still the only English club yet to concede a goal in all competitions!
Great kit, btw. Getting meself one of those.
a dictata in superbia (formerly Seven Stars), Manchester (30/08/2009 at 15:45)
Ferrari, Toulouse (30/08/2009 at 15:47)
Sam Haggar Man City will Rule the world (30/08/2009 at 15:48)
Spanish Blue, Spain (30/08/2009 at 15:49)
boy blue, burnage (30/08/2009 at 15:51)
SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 3-0 WELL DONE ONCE AGAIN TO HUGHES AND THE BOYS.
ANOTHER GOOD PERFORMANCE AND ANOTHER CLEAN SHEET AS WELL. THIS SEASON JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER.
CTID
O'Fortuna, Mubarak & Mansour/The worlds most Impeccable Football Club Chairman and Owner (30/08/2009 at 15:52)
madblue, oldham (30/08/2009 at 15:54)
but the next few matches will be the test then we will know more how well we are gelling
Michelle Vonks Nose, Pembrokeshire (30/08/2009 at 15:55)
BLUE BOY!! MANCHESTER NOT LONDON!!, Manchester (30/08/2009 at 15:56)
stretford boy blue, out of town (30/08/2009 at 15:57)
I'm loving the clean sheets, Given is undoubtably the best 'keeper in the Prem by a country mile.
First big test in 2 weeks, a wounded Arsenal.
We'll beat them.
Only 28 tickets left for that game, according to mcfc.co.uk, this morning.
Every home game will sell out,
I can't wait. Been going for 41 years and never been this excited!
CTID
dr.spock, sweden (30/08/2009 at 15:57)
Chester Bells (30/08/2009 at 15:57)
Wobbles last 15 mins, but the difference is that last year we would have caved in. They were playing like it was their cup final - the pitch seemed really small too!
Taggart , Ulverston (30/08/2009 at 15:59)
Njinsky Blue, Spain (30/08/2009 at 15:59)
g1lly blue (30/08/2009 at 16:01)
PJS, Oz (30/08/2009 at 16:01)
We create a lot more in attack, that is to be expected with the investment in talent in the attacking areas, but in broken play when we dont have the ball and more importantly in defensive areas we look as sloppy as we did in all our away games last season.
We did not have control, composure or any rhythymn in midfield for a large portion of the match. Barry and Ireland have a frustrating habit of playing too close to each other, whether that is just miscommunication I dont know. Same thing goes for Bellamy and Tevez who did the same too often.
We got 3 points and kept a clean sheet and I cant be bothered nit picking obvious problems i raised on these forums after pretty much all our away games last season again. All good teams have a bad day in the office, and a mark of champion teams is that they get results even when they play badly (or as well as they are capable of).
Let's hope it was just one of those because next 2 games will be a more indicative of where we are likely to end this season, and we havent yet played a team that isn't going to finish in 15-20th this season.
Citizen_52, Whitefield (30/08/2009 at 16:02)
The thing that is more impressive than anything is that we look really solid. There was only really a sniff when Nugent turned Zabaleta. We are not necessarily turning on the style but we are grinding out wins in ways that other teams have done in recent seasons, and on the road that is really important.
An equal amount of away wins to the entirety of last season already! I was pleased with the decision by Hughes to leave Robinho out, and it was fully justified by the scrappy, tight game. Robinho can definitely be a huge asset to City and already is but there's times when he can be a liability.
That's not to say we shouldn't ever use him away. Certain types of opponents he will be effective against I reckon, with wide spaces on the pitch, but the likes of Pompey, Burnley, Stoke etc are going to make it too hard for us to get him in the game. It just mirrors what I was saying last season but the thing that matters most now is that we have major, quality alternatives to use depending on the opposition and we can be flexible.
No goals conceded and while people like Dunne have been fantastic servants for City and even kept us in the Premiership in dark times with no money, you can see the quality of our defence now and the keeper is outstanding. He is going to save us a LOT of points over the course of the season.
Keep up the good work City - September is going to be difficult of course but I feel a damn sight more optimistic approaching it with this season's squad than last season's.
Declan McAllister (30/08/2009 at 16:03)
micheal ok, kilworth,county cork ireland. (30/08/2009 at 16:04)
30/08/2009 at 15:43'
awh nice to see another obsessed utd fan here.....
anyway another 3 points and a clean sheet.
bring on the gunners and the rags.
heres hoping for a clean bill of health from our international players.
John Quambo, salford (30/08/2009 at 16:05)
Glad Zabaletta got his chance now Micah is injured. Zab played good when he came on. Adebayor was class.
SWP seems to have no end product AT ALL! Sort it Shaun. Pleased with your work rate though. Tevez class too - chased every lost cause even until the final whistle. Respect.