Portsmouth 2

Defoe 11 Reo-Coker 38(og) Muntari s/o 81

Aston Villa 0

Mellberg s/o 89

Portsmouth 2 Aston Villa 0 March 15 2008

Portsmouth leapfrogged Aston Villa into sixth spot after Jermain Defoe's opener and Nigel Reo-Coker's own goal secured a 2-0 home win for them.

England coach Fabio Capello was in the Fratton Park crowd - and Defoe will have caught his eye on 11 minutes after latching on to a long ball and chipping over Scott Carson into the net.

The goal sparked a spell of Pompey pressure, and after Milan Baros was denied by Carson, the Villa keeper was involved in a bizarre own goal on 38.

As Defoe chased another throughball, Carson raced out of his area to clear and saw his attempt hit the retreating Reo-Coker and flash into an empty net.

Ashley Young fired a low drive wide of the upright as Villa responded but the second half was dominated by two dismissals, with Sulley Muntari and Olof Mellberg both seeing red for second bookable offences late on.