Portsmouth claimed their first home win of the Championship season with a 1-0 victory over Preston North End, courtesy of Andre Dozzell's deflected strike shortly before half-time. In a tight contest short on clear-cut chances, the midfielder's long-range effort, diverted past Daniel Iversen, proved enough to separate two evenly matched sides.
The result ended Preston's unbeaten league start and underlined Portsmouth's growing defensive solidity, even if they again passed up opportunities to make life more comfortable. Paul Heckingbottom's team enjoyed more than 60% of the possession and pressed hard after the break, but they could not force a way past Nicolas Schmid as they failed to score for the first time this season.
Pompey Edge a Cagey First Half
Preston, who had taken seven points from their opening three games and arrived on the south coast buoyed by impressive home wins over Leicester and Ipswich, began brightly. Daniel Jebbison almost gave the visitors an early lead when he deftly flicked Thierry Small's low cross onto the roof of the net, while Small himself later cut in from the left and curled just wide of the far post as Portsmouth were briefly stretched on the break.