Nathan Delfouneso was the hero as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Portsmouth 2-1.
Delfouneso nets late winner to secure 2-1 triumph
Nathan Delfouneso stepped off the substitutes' bench to score the winner as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Portsmouth 2-1 at Fratton Park and keep their top-four hopes alive.
Portsmouth drew first blood after just ten minutes as Michael Brown curled a shot past Brad Friedel from the edge of the area following great work by Anthony Vanden Borre down the right wing.
John Carew beat the offside trap and stepped inside Marc Wilson to fire Villa level six minutes later and a thrilling first half continued with both sides creating chances.
The visitors had already had one confident penalty appeal turned down when they were awarded a spot-kick for a foul by Papa Bouba Diop on Carew, but the Norwegian's ferocious effort was too close to David James and beaten away to safety.
The second period was less open as Portsmouth defended resolutely, but Villa's pressure was eventually rewarded with just eight minutes remaining when Delfouneso struck from close range.
Bright start
Pompey's first chance came four minutes in, when Friedel spilled a John Utaka cross, the ball fell to Kanu but the Nigerian's shot was blocked by James Collins.
Fratton Park went into uproar in the ninth minute when Vanden Borre raced down the right, out-muscled Stephen Warnock, and laid the ball off to Brown who carefully placed the ball past Friedel to put Pompey 1-0 up.
James then reacted well to deny Stewart Downing and Carew but the Norwegian beat the England stopper minutes later to draw Pompey level soon after.
Wilson's attempts play Carew offside from Warnock's through-ball failed miserably and the Villa striker raced through before cutting back across the defender to beat James.
Wilson then almost put the ball into his own net to make it 2-1 to Villa but his deflected clearance rebounded off a post.
The near capacity crowd were being entertained by some end to end football as both sides looked to take the advantage.
Gabriel Agbonlahor thought he should have been awarded a penalty when he appeared to be dragged down by Vanden Borre in the box but referee Lee Probert waved away his protests.
Diop then gifted Villa a spot-kick by bringing down Carew after losing possession inside his own box.
The Norwegian chose to power his drive down the middle but James saved to deny Villa the lead.
Villa came out of the blocks quickest in the second half, with Ashley Young proving the main threat.
Maturity
The 24-year-old burst down the right for the visitors but young Leonard Sowah showed maturity beyond his years to stifle the quick winger's mazy run five minutes into the second period.
James Milner then beat two Pompey defenders before seeing his 25-yard strike comfortably saved by former Villa goalkeeper James.
Young then switched to the left flank where he crossed for Agbonlahor, but James was there again to stop the striker's header from five yards.
Villa thought they should have had a second penalty when Stiliyan Petrov went down under pressure from James in the box.
O'Neill threw on Delfouneso for Agbonlahor and that proved to be a masterstroke as he put Villa ahead within a couple of minutes of coming on.
Milner crossed for Heskey, who headed the ball on before his fellow substitute tapped home from five yards to pick up his first league goal with eight minutes left.
Portsmouth pushed for an equaliser but Friedel saved their best effort from Joel Ward at the death and O'Neill ended the game with a vital win.
| Portsmouth |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
9 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 9 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 7 |
Corners |
6 |
| 5 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 3 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 75.2 |
Passing Success |
84.9 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
24 |
| 76 |
Tackles Success |
70.8 |
| 43.5 |
Possession |
56.5 |
| 44.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
55.5 |
|
