Yes, it was only a point.
Yes, Arsenal and Man Utd won away from home (and Man City won to go second).
Yes, we needed a stunning save from Pepe "Almost World Class" Reina to get us through the match.
But...
In hindsight, 'Arry "Used Car Salesman" Redknapp will be a lot happier with a point than Rafa. Portsmouth is a tough, tough place to go and get points so that really is saying something.
I'm not as worried by Rafa's rotation as most are, but I am worried by the form of two of our mainstays from last season - Alonso and Crouch. Crouch looks as if he has one eye on the door, and there are murmours about whether or not we should sell him in the January break.
Alonso looks short of confidence now that he's no longer a shoo-in for the central midfield berth - something Mascherano and Gerrard seem to have nailed down.
I don't want to say this was a step backwards because that would be disrespectful towards a very good Portsmouth side; we're only two points off of top spot with a cracking goal difference already so this is more of a stumble than a step back. Kudos to Pompey for a hard fought match but I do hope we can regain some momentum on Tuesday at Porto and then give a really poor Birmingham side a good thrashing at Anfield on Saturday.