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Emile Heskey scored on his debut as Aston Villa moved up to third in the Premier League table and heaped the pressure on Portsmouth boss Tony Adams.

Heskey smashed the ball home with a first time right-foot strike after Gabriel Agbonlahor’s flick-on.

Agbonlahor was later played through on goal but failed to hit the target.

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Hayden Mullins narrowly shot over for Pompey, while Peter Crouch missed the target from six yards and Nadir Belhadj saw red after a second booking.

Pompey boss Tony Adams was looking for his team to bounce back from their FA Cup defeat at the hands of Championship side Swansea on Saturday.

His team were the better side for large parts of the game but the facts are that the south coast club have now won just two of 14 Premier League matches since Adams became manager and picked up just two points from the last 21 available.

It was hardly a vintage Villa performance but, unlike Pompey, Martin O’Neill’s team have the winning habit.

THIS SEASON’S REVERSE FIXTURE

Aston Villa 0-0 Portsmouth

18 October 2008 – Ref: Mike Riley
Sent Off: Davis (Portsmouth) 81