LASSANA DIARRA didn’t endear himself to some Pompey fans when he announced on signing from Arsenal last month that he didn’t want to hang around too long before returning to a better club, and here was compelling evidence that the 22-year-old French international has the talent to rejoin a top team in Europe.

After threatening to dismantle another of his old clubs, Chelsea, last week, Diarra produced a stunning piece of skill to set up the winning move which he then finished off himself. Television replays showed that he was clearly offside when he scored the winning goal, the ball having taken a slight touch off Nwankwo Kanu rather than the Bolton player Andy O’Brien.

Gary Megson didn’t complain afterwards, which was all the more commendable of him as Bolton had dominated the game up until then. Still, they didn’t have the type of quality that Portsmouth can produce through Diarra and David James, who produced a string of outstanding saves to deny Bolton.

“Some players come out and kiss the badge and as soon as they get the opportunity they p*** off,” Harry Redknapp said afterwards. “He came out and said he wanted to play eventually at a big, big club. He wants to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona or AC Milan. So what? You have to be ambitious in this game. He’s a very special player, absolutely top drawer.”

In winning, Portsmouth maintained one of the best away records in the Premier League, but Redknapp admitted his side had taken something of a battering and they scored with probably their only good move of the game.

On 80 minutes Diarra left Danny Guthrie for dead with an exquisite turn and ran on having played the ball to Kanu on the edge of the box.

Cahill cleared, but in the ensuing confusion, the ball bounced off O’Brien and Kanu played it through again with the faintest of touches. The linesman appeared not to notice that the ball had touched a Portsmouth player last and Diarra, a couple of yards offside at this stage, thumped the ball into the net.

Diarra and his midfield partner Niko Kranjcar had been very quiet in the first half when Portsmouth couldn’t manage to put a shot on target or even force a corner in the first half. Gretar Steinsson and El Hadji Diouf in particular were able to exploit Portsmouth’s narrow formation and the home side spurned four or five good chances.

Thanks to Steinsson’s industry down the right, Kevin Davies had a couple of early chances, but it was Matt Taylor, sold by Portsmouth to Bolton during the transfer window, who was particularly wasteful.

On 29 minutes he volleyed wide from the edge of the box when everybody was expecting another of his spectacular goals and, three minutes later, he missed the easiest chance he may ever get to score at his new club. It came from the best move of the game with Steinsson moving the ball swiftly on to Diouf, who lost no time in pushing the ball further along to Davies.

The striker whipped in a low cross which evaded Sol Campbell, but Taylor sent an easy tap-in from four yards over the bar.

Taylor missed another good chance on 52 minutes after more good work by Diouf and Steinsson down the right. Diouf was then replaced by giant Grzegorz Rasiak; Megson clearly deciding that the well road tested Bolton way of breaking down defences was the best one. And it did look like Bolton had scored from one of Campo’s long throws on 70 minutes, with the ball ping ponging around the penalty area and Gary Cahill eventually prodding it goalward only for Hermann Hreidarsson to make an excellent goalline clearance.

Having saved well from Raziak, James then made another good stop from the marauding Steinsson and it wasn’t long before Portsmouth scored their unlikely winner. Bolton nearly grabbed an equaliser in the dying moments, but James made a superb diving save after substitute Tamir Cohen looked sure to score from 10 yards out.

Match stats

Player ratings: Bolton: Jaaskelainen 6, Steinsson 8, O’Brien 6, Cahill 7, Gardner 6, Campo 6, Diouf 6 (Rasiak 62min), Guthrie 5 (Cohen 87min), Nolan 7, Taylor 6 (Stelios 82min), Davies 6

Portsmouth: James 9, Lauren 6, Campbell 6, Hreidarsson 7, Pamarot 5 (Aubey 27min, 5), Bouba Diop 6, Diarra 8, Hughes 6, Kranjcar 5(Utaka 74min), Defoe 5, Baros 5 (Kanu 45min, 7)

Star man: David James (Portsmouth)

Scorer: Portsmouth: Diarra 81

Yellow cards: Bolton: Guthrie Portsmouth: Hughes

Referee: P Walton

Attendance:18,544