Portsmouth 0 Aston Villa 1:WERE YOU watching, Rafael Benitez? Emile Heskey, who had been expected to return to Anfield as a free agent in the summer, last night took an immediate chance to reward the opportunism of Martin O'Neill, who stepped in this week with a cheque for around €4 million to renew his association with the 31-year-old England centre-forward. Heskey not only took the weight off his younger colleagues but stepped up to score a goal reminiscent of his early days under O'Neill at Leicester City, which pushed Aston Villa back up to third place in the table.
Tony Adams was able to introduce Hayden Mullins, bought for an undisclosed fee from West Ham to stiffen midfield, alongside Jermaine Pennant, his recent loan acquisition from Liverpool. Vitor Hugo Gomes Passos, familiarly known as Pele, was in the stands, where Adams says the 21-year-old Portuguese striker will remain until he has familiarised himself with the physical demands of the English game.
Seeking to end a run of dismal performances, Adams also changed the shape of the team from 4-5-1, with Peter Crouch at the spearpoint, to 4-4-2, with the England striker joined by Nwankwo Kanu in what, at an aggregate 13ft, may be the tallest pair of strikers ever fielded in the Premier League. Curiously, neither is a particularly impressive header of the ball.
Mullins was the first of the newcomers to make an impact, his sharp interception inside the Portsmouth penalty area cutting out a square ball aimed by James Milner at Gabriel Agbonlahor’s run.
There was a hint of Portsmouth’s problems, however, when Pennant and Nadir Belhadj combined in a short-corner routine twice within the same minute but failed on both occasions to deliver the ball into the area where the tall men lurked.
It was O’Neill’s new acquisition who struck first. Heskey had done virtually nothing until the 21st minute, when he nodded on Brad Friedel’s long punt and sprinted to meet the headed return from Agbonlahor before despatching the bouncing ball past David James from 15 yards.
This was Route One with an elegant detour, and for Heskey, after scoring three times in 20 league matches for Wigan this season, it was a sumptuous start.
Portsmouth’s best chance to equalise before the interval came when Pennant’s cut-back was met by Mullins, who swivelled in front of goal and shot narrowly over the bar from 13 yards.
Agbonlahor, however, should have increased Villa’s lead when he raced clear down the inside-left channel, shaped as if to guide his shot across James, but scuffed the ball wide of the near post instead.
Belhadj, booked in the 45th minute for a foul on Craig Gardner, had an immediate chance to make amends but met Pennant’s long cross with a drive that screamed over the bar.
Pennant lifted the home side’s spirits five minutes into the second half when he tricked his way past Young on the right before feeding Belhadj with a crossfield pass. Taking up the move, Hreidarsson hit a left-wing cross met by the head of Curtis Davies. The clearance fell at the feet of Pennant, whose fierce volley was punched away by Friedel’s iron fists.
The winger was involved again 10 minutes later when he clipped Crouch’s miscued shot back towards its point of origin, only to see the striker volley a fine chance high and wide.
Portsmouth’s spirited second-half revival, in which Pennant was always to the fore, promised an end to the dismal succession of four defeats and two draws in their previous six league matches. But with 20 minutes to go Belhadj was dismissed.
PORTSMOUTH: James, Johnson, Campbell (Kaboul 46), Distin, Hreidarsson, Pennant, Davis, Mullins, Belhadj, Crouch, Kanu (Utaka 74). Subs not used: Begovic, Nugent, Pamarot, Mvuemba, Armand Traore. Booked: Belhadj, Johnson.
ASTON VILLA: Friedel, Cuellar, Knight, Davies, Luke Young, Gardner (Sidwell 65), Petrov, Barry, Milner, Agbonlahor, Heskey (Shorey 83). Subs not used: Guzan, Harewood, Delfouneso, Salifou, Osbourne. Booked: Petrov, Milner.
Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
