Michael Owen scored his 29th Newcastle United goal on his 29th birthday yesterday to help Joe Kinnear’s team to win away for the first time in the Premier League this season. A disciplined defensive performance and three second-half goals, by Owen, Obafemi Martins and Danny Guthrie, put a spring in the step of the 1,300 Newcastle fans who had made the 700-mile round trip from the North East to the South Coast.

Jermain Defoe, the Portsmouth striker, who had five chances to give his side the lead in the first half, was upstaged by the player he has replaced in the England squad. Owen showed Fabio Capello, the England manager, that he still has the killer instinct in front of goal by giving the away team the lead with a brave finish after Jonás Gutiérrez had cut out Arnold Mvuemba’s risky attempt to find Nadir Belhadj with a crossfield pass. Martins made it 2-0 with a close-range poke past David James after good work by José Enrique and Guthrie wrapped up the victory with a right-foot strike that James should have saved in the 89th minute.

“First and foremost, we are hard to beat,” Kinnear said after watching his side keep their third clean sheet in three away games to climb out of the relegation zone. “Gradually we are getting ourselves up and running.”

Not much has gone right for Owen or Newcastle since he moved to St James’ Park from Real Madrid for £16 million 3½ years ago, but there were signs yesterday that both are beginning to find their feet again. The former Liverpool striker has been sidelined for more than 18 months since 2005 with serious foot and knee injuries and he was playing for only the 61st time for his club yesterday. Taking into account his transfer fee and £115,000-a-week wages, every goal he has scored for Newcastle has cost them about £1.3 million. No wonder they want him to accept a pay cut if he decides to stay when his contract expires at the end of the season.

“When I came here the players were lacking in confidence and they were probably not working hard enough defensively,” Kinnear said. “Now we work on our defending four days a week because there isn’t anything I can teach Michael Owen — he’s just a prolific goalscorer.”

Owen did not get off to the best of starts when he missed the target from close range in the ninth minute, prompting the Portsmouth fans to break into a few choruses of “You’ll never play for England”, but Tony Adams’s team struggled to get to grips with him after that early let-off.

At the other end it was easy to see why Newcastle had not conceded an away goal for more than a month. Shay Given, in goal, was excellent, while Guthrie and Nicky Butt worked phenomenally hard in midfield to protect their multinational defence.

Newcastle’s defensive discipline — aside from a few hairy moments courtesy of Fabricio Coloccini and a handball in the penalty area by Butt that Chris Foy, the referee, did not see — allowed Owen, Martins, Gutiérrez and Charles N’Zogbia the freedom to attack in the second half without worrying about their defensive duties.

Portsmouth were chasing the game by that stage but rarely threatened to find a way past Given after Owen had scored for the ninth time in ten starts. “I wouldn’t swap Jermain Defoe for Michael Owen,” Adams, the Portsmouth manager, said. “It just wasn’t our day. They came to do a job and they did it very well.”

Portsmouth (4-4-2): D James 5 - N Pamarot 6, S Campbell 6, S Distin 6, N Belhadj 5 - A Mvuemba 5, S Davis 7, R Hughes 6, N Kranjcar 6 - P Crouch 6, J Defoe 6. Substitutes: A Traoré 5 (for Mvuemba, 57min), Kanu 5 (for Hughes, 69) Not used: J Ashdown, Lauren, H Hreidarsson, D Nugent, M Wilson. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a).

Newcastle United (4-4-2): S Given 7 - H Beye 7, F Coloccini 7, S Bassong 8, J Enrique 8 - J Gutiérrez 8, D Guthrie 7, N Butt 7, C N’Zogbia 7 - O Martins 8, M Owen 7. Substitute: F Ameobi (for Martins, 78min). Not used: S Harper, C Caçapa, D Duff, Gérémi, S Taylor, M Viduka. Next: Tottenham Hotspur (h).

Referee: C Foy Attendance: 19,416

Transfer targets

Portsmouth

Lassana Diarra is among those likely to leave Fratton Park next month, but Tony Adams is more worried about strengthening his squad than balancing the books.

Newcastle United

Joe Kinnear has money to spend in the transfer window but his priority is to keep Michael Owen.