Portsmouth saw their FA Cup run come to an end on Monday evening as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at Fratton Park in their fifth-round meeting.

Kenny Jackett's side would have been aiming to cause another upset following their victory over Championship side Barnsley in the previous round, but Arsenal's top-flight quality proved to be too much for the League One side in the end.

Pompey produced a strong first-half performance before Sokratis Papastathopoulos opened the scoring for Arsenal on the brink of half-time, and Eddie Nketiah then doubled the visitors' advantage early in the second period to seal the victory.

However, the one negative from the game for Arsenal came during the opening period when they lost midfielder Lucas Torreira to injury following a strong sliding challenge from James Bolton which was deemed as fair by the referee.

Torreira was in visible pain following Bolton's well-timed tackle and this saw him replaced by Dani Ceballos in the 16th minute, with Torreira then departing Fratton Park on crutches after receiving treatment on the injury he suffered.

Bolton has now responded to his challenge on Torreira by describing it as a "great tackle", but he also expressed his concern for Torreira as he confessed it is never nice to see any player suffer an injury.

“It was a great tackle," Torreira said, as per BBC reporter Andrew Moon.

"I timed it really well but it’s never nice to see someone down...I hope he’s okay”

Bolton was making his 29th Pompey appearance in all competitions this term when he lined up against the Gunners, with the 25-year-old having been deployed at centre-back by Jackett as opposed to his usual right-back role.

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The Verdict

Portsmouth produced a solid first-half display against Arsenal as they showed signs of causing a potential upset at Fratton Park, and Bolton's strong tackle represented the kind of commitment shown by Pompey in the opening period.

It was clear to see that Bolton produced a strong but probably fair challenge on Torreira as he dispossessed the midfielder near the left flank, and it was very unfortunate that the Arsenal midfielder appeared to suffer a serious injury as a result.

Both Arsenal and Bolton himself will be eager to see Torreira make a quick recovery from his injury, as it cannot be nice for the Pompey defender to see Torreira depart on crutches following his tackle, even though his intention was to win the ball.