FA PREMIER LEAGUE RACE FOR EUROPE Portsmouth 1 Aston Villa 2:THANK GOODNESS for Nathan Delfouneso. Had the 19-year-old Aston Villa substitute not popped up with his first goal in the Premier League to keep alive his club's slim hopes of gate-crashing the top four, then it is a fair bet that Martin O'Neill would have descended into apoplexy.
Villa have not had much luck with penalties since the turn of the year and the manager has found himself at his wits’ end with frustration. He still cannot believe how his team did not get a decision against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final and here, in the south coast sunshine, he was left bemused as the referee, Lee Probert, ignored what he described as a “cast-iron” award in the first half for a challenge on Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Villa would go on to be denied again in the second half when the captain, Stilian Petrov, felt contact with the Portsmouth goalkeeper David James and went to ground.
There was irony in that when Villa did get a penalty, just before the interval, John Carew had his kick saved by James. The Norwegian went for power but James, in front of the watching England manager Fabio Capello, got a firm hand to the ball.
O’Neill, however, could reflect on two decisions that helped to spirit three deserved points to Villa Park. He sent on the strikers Emile Heskey and Delfouneso late in the second half and he watched the pair combine for the winning goal. James Milner’s cross was glanced on by Heskey and Delfouneso, with his first touch, snapped up the chance from close range.
“I have not had the chance to see the Petrov incident again but the first one was a penalty,” O’Neill said. “Mind you, the way we are going, there is no guarantee that we would have put it in, as big John showed. We know that we are outsiders for the top four but we still have everything to play for. We have to win all our remaining games.”
Portsmouth have one eye on the FA Cup final against Chelsea next month and Grant admitted that it was a priority to avoid injuries. To that end he was disappointed to report that Kevin Prince-Boateng had suffered one, which forced him off.
Boateng was involved in the opening goal, moments after he had been denied by Brad Friedel at close quarters, with Kanu being foiled by James Collins’s saving challenge on the rebound. Anthony Vanden Borre got the better of Stephen Warnock to pull an astute ball back from the byline and, with Boateng’s step-over helping to freeze Friedel, Michael Brown arrived to curl home his first goal since St Stephen’s Day 2004.
Villa were roused by the setback. Carew ought to have scored from point-blank range, rather than side-foot straight at James, following Agbonlahor’s cross, yet he finished emphatically moments later.
O’Neill’s team should have led by the interval. Ashley Young’s cross was touched on to his own post by Marc Wilson while Carew fluffed his lines from the spot after Papa Bouba Diop had foolishly tripped him. Earlier Probert had ruled that Vanden Borre had not leaned into Agbonlahor and dragged him down.
O’Neill’s fears that it would not be his team’s day deepened when Agbonlahor headed an excellent chance too close to James yet Delfouneso ensured that Villa would not be kicking themselves.
Guardian Service
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