Sorry Portsmouth lost yet again as Aston Villa moved five points clear of Arsenal in the race for a Champions League place with a narrow 1-0 win on Tuesday.

Pressure was high on manager Tony Adams to turn Portsmouth's form around and the hosts matched their opponents for most of the game. After a cautious begining by both the sides, the first real chance of the match came midway through the half when Hayden Mullins saw his shot take a deflection off Carlos Cuellar and fly inches wide of the target.

However it was not long before Villa managed to score with their first chance of the match when Brad Friedel's long kick was flicked on to the path of new signing Emile Heskey and the former Wigan Athletic striker made no mistake by marking the debut for his new club with a goal in the 21st minute.

Jermaine Pennant was looking dangerous on the wings and the on-loan midfielder curled in a brilliant cross for Mullins who failed to hit the target from close range. Villa slowly assumed control of the match and Gabriel Agbonlahor had a great chance to double the lead but saw his shot go wide of the target.

Glen Johnson had Portsmouth's best chance of getting an equalizer early in the second half but Friedel pulled off a good save to deny the full back. Just when it looked as if Portsmouth were getting back in the game, the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 71st minute when Nadir Belhadj was shown a second yellow card after arguing with the referee for being penalised for handball.