I knew straight away we weren't going to win this game. In all of the match previews I read and on the match programme it said the referee was going to be Mike Riley however the tannoy announced that Uriah Rennie was the referee. We all know that we never win when Rennie is the ref and once again his curse has got hold of us. We just never win when he is in charge of our games!
Villa took the lead when the returning Glen Johnson was caught in possession by Steve Davis and put the lightning quick Agbonlahor through on goal. David James then brought him down in the area and got booked. Usually when that happens your goalkeeper gets sent off. I couldn't see it clearly but apparently the Villa youngster was going away from goal, therefore a yellow appropriate.
Whatever should have happened, Gareth Barry slotted in Villa's umpteenth penalty this season to give them the lead. For the third successive game we had gone behind and had to come back.
Pompey didn't create much in the first half, mainly due to stout defending as Mendes could only fire over from distance and LuaLua; who started the game, sent a shot wide. Unfortunately he then went off with what looked like a hamstring injury and was replaced with Benjani. Pompey went into half-time 1-0 down.
After a competitive but scrappy first half, the second half exploded into life as Pompey upped the tempo with Villa looking to use Agbonlahor's pace to counter-attack which was pretty effective. After putting the away side under pressure we got our just reward as a quality cross from Benjani from the right was met by the head of Matt Taylor who was unmarked in the box to draw us level.
Galvanised by the equaliser, the home side charged forward and Benjani missed two sitters as in the centre of the box he blasted over when he should have hit the target at least. We did eventually get a breakthrough as Rennie awarded the second penalty of the game after Gareth Barry stupidly handled a cross in the box. Step up Matt Taylor. He smashed it in the bottom right corner, giving his namesake in the goal no chance. It looked like the comeback was complete...
However Sol Campbell made a hash of clearing Juan Pablo Angel's shot just two minutes later and the Colombian drilled in an equaliser although his drive took a deflection off Campbell. Things got worse as Pedro Mendes got sent off after a second bookable offence. I couldn't see it clearly but there were no complaints from the Portuguese midfielder. After that Villa tried for the winner but we held on with 10 men for a draw.
I'm a bit disappointed with a draw after having taken the lead with little over 10 minutes to go, however it could have been worse after going behind and David James; who made several key saves today, might have been sent off.
Villa will probably be more pleased with the result than us but we're still 4th in the league despite failing to win. The top of the table is extremely tight at the moment with Arsenal, Reading and Liverpool all on 25 points although the Gunners and the Royals have a game in hand. Villa and Bolton are just a single point behind and Everton will be too if they beat West Ham tommorow.
Football is an entertainment sport though and we can't complain after the great game that was served up today by the two most improved sides in the league. Although the result isn't ideal, it isn't fatal to what could be a charge for Europe. We just need to make sure we beat our bogey side next week if we want to keep our hopes up.
Also don't forget, the FA Cup third round draw is on tommorow. Sides like Brighton, Millwall and of course, Southampton are in the draw and I'm sure most Pompey fans will relish a tie against any of them. Check out Fratton Faithful for the result of the draw tommorow!
Pompey Player Ratings
David James: 7 - Could have been sent off for bringing down Agbonlahor but he made some cracking saves to keep us in the game.
Glen Johnson: 6 - Had a fairly decent game on his return but made a crucial mistake that led to Villa's opener.
Linvoy Primus: 6 - Solid but struggled against Agbonlahor's pace.
Sol Campbell: 6 - Solid but his dire clearance resulted in Villa's equaliser.
Noe Pamarot: 7 - Best defender for us, and he was playing at left back!
Gary O'Neil: 7 - Drove the game well and caused Villa problems.
Manuel Fernandes: 7 - Got to see what he was about today. Combative, can win the ball well and he has a decent pass on him. But are we going to sign him?
Pedro Mendes: 6 - Bad first half, much better in the second half but then got sent off.
Matthew Taylor: 9 - Great header for our first, super penalty for the second and he also hit the crossbar. At times it looked as if he was trying to win the match by himself! Man Of The Match.
Kanu: 7 - Held the ball up well and brought others into play.
Lomana LuaLua: 6 - Looked lively until he went off with injury.
Subs
Jamie Ashdown
David Thompson
Richard Hughes: N/A - Brought on to plug the gap left by Mendes after his dismissal.
Niko Kranjcar
Benjani: 6 - Decent cross to set up the equaliser but missed two chances he would have buried if he could hit a barn door.