Portsmouth's run of form continues

Charlton 0 Portsmouth 1:  Portsmouth hit the top of the Premiership again and kept their five-match clean-sheet record intact…

Charlton 0 Portsmouth 1:  Portsmouth hit the top of the Premiership again and kept their five-match clean-sheet record intact with substitute Lomana LuaLua's 73rd-minute winner against Charlton at The Valley.

LuaLua, who has not started a competitive game since damaging an ankle in April last year, came off the bench to replace last week's winning-goal hero Benjani Mwaruwari.

And he had been on the field less than 10 minutes when he picked up a pass from Sean Davis outside the area and took on Matt Holland before beating Scott Carson with a low drive into the far corner which the keeper will believe he should have saved.

But it was another deserved success for Harry Redknapp's new-look side - although he did not include any of his deadline-day signings Andy Cole, Roudolphe Douala or Nikola Kranjcar.

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An unchanged side had just too much for Charlton even though the London club made a cracking start and were unlucky not to break Pompey's proud unblemished defensive record. They have not conceded in five games now.

Charlton always looked vulnerable to a breakaway and even more so when the lively LuaLua replaced Benjani after 64 minutes.

He immediately tested Carson with a low drive and nine minutes later struck the vital goal after picking up a Davis pass outside the area.

The Cameroon international hit the ball well enough but Carson seemed slow going down for it and could only help the ball into the net.  PA