Portsmouth Football Club News

Things just won’t fall for Pompey at the moment. The Blues forced 17 corners against Aston Villa at Fratton Park but still couldn’t score. Martin O’Neill’s side, however, needed just one shot on target from Emile Heskey to win Tuesday night’s match. Pompey are now without a top-flight win in seven matches. The Premier League does not lie: the Blues are three points off the bottom with a shrinking number of sides between them and 20th place. But the fact that they were still clapped off at the end was a more eloquent commentary on the Blues’ performance against a Villa team recording a club-record sixth straight away win. Tony Adams’ side enjoyed the bulk of the possession and created the chances to have emerged with at least a point. But instead they were left to rue a first-half miss by new signing Hayden Mullins and another on the hour from Peter Crouch. Pompey’s top scorer could not believe it when he turned Jermaine Pennant’s cross wide from six yards. Nor could the fans on the Fratton end into which the ball disappeared. Crouch even apologised to his team-mates in the dressing-room after spurning a chance that he would normally have netted. It was tough on Adams, who had sought to weld attacking intent with defensive pragmatism by playing 4-4-2 with the obdurate Hermann Hreidarsson recalled to the rearguard for only his third start of the season. Mullins and Sean Davis were asked to provide the central-midfield steel so Pennant and Nadir Belhadj could express themselves down the flanks and provide the crosses for Kanu and Crouch. Adams' plan worked to the extent that Pompey were able to dominate their visitors, particularly in the second half. But what they lacked was a decisive touch in front of goal. In contrast when Villa got their first chance they took it, Heskey seizing on indecision in Pompey’s defence to latch onto Gabriel Agbonlahor’s flick and drive his shot past David James. Agbonlahor should have added a second instead of shooting wide after racing through just before the break. But after that Villa were forced into defending their lead against a blue assault led by the outstanding Pennant. When Pompey were reduced to 10 men after Nadir Belhadj got a second yellow card for kicking the ball away they refused to knuckle under. And they might have snatched a point right at the end when substitute John Utaka beat several claret-and-blue shirts only to be thwarted by Villa keeper Brad Friedel at the decisive moment. “We had to defend stoutly in the second half,” admitted O’Neill. “Even when they went down to 10 men they put us under relentless pressure. “I was delighted when I heard the final whistle.” With Liverpool and Manchester City the next visitors to Fratton Park, Pompey’s trip to Fulham on Saturday is taking on the shape of a six-pointer.

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