Arsenal 1-0 Portsmouth

William Gallas re-ignited Arsenal's faltering title bid and condemned Portsmouth to four straight defeats with a late header.

Tony Adams' tactics worked in a goalless, scrappy first half as Portsmouth stifled the Arsenal attack.

Peter Crouch came closest to scoring in the 24th minute, his header beating Manuel Almunia but hitting the post, while Emmanual Adebayor rounded David James eight minutes later only to be denied by some last-ditch defending from Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell.

Adebayor missed another golden chance before Gallas capitalised on a James mistake to head Denilson's free-kick into an empty net with eight minutes to go. Adams sent on Jermain Defoe but Arsenal held on to end a run of three draws and claim an important victory.