Carew and Delfouneso scored when against host at Fratton Park : Portsmouth 1-2 Villa

PORTSMOUTH 1
- Brown 9

ASTON VILLA 2
- Carew 16,
- Delfouneso 82

**Brown's 10th minute deadlock breaker came against the run of play, but was well-taken, nevertheless.

The midfielder found the bottom corner from just outside the box after Anthony Vanden Borre latched on to Kanu's through pass and Kevin Prince-Boateng stepped over his cut-back.

But the strike failed to rob Villa of early momentum, as they immediately looked for a response.

James denied Stewart Downing, who cut in from the right flank and arrowed a low drive towards the bottom corner.

But when Carew got into a similar position just seconds later, he got the desired result.

The number 16 proved to be lucky for Carew - his 16th goal of the campaign coming on 16 minutes when he beat the offside to control Stephen Warnock's lofted pass and drill home with authority.

After such a frantic start, it was quite baffling that the two sides went in at the break with the scoreline still at 1-1.

Brad Friedel had to be at full stretch to push behind Boateng's curling shot and while Villa were left ruing a lack of luck when Ashley Young's cross came back off the post via a deflection off Marc Wilson, the two incidents that followed caused greater frustration.

With Phil Dowd and Howard Webb already off Villa's Christmas card list, referee Lee Probert left himself in danger of paying a similar penalty when he failed to point to the spot after Vanden Borre tugged down Agbonlahor.

However, Probert got it spot on when Papa Bouba Diop lost control of the ball and sent Carew tumbling four minutes before the break. The striker hammered his penalty down the middle but James did brilliantly to keep it out.

Portsmouth didn't relent in their efforts to steal an unlikely victory and substitute Tommy Smith went close when Michael Brown's throw-in was flicked into his path.

But the final word was saved for Villa's two super subs - Delfouneso and Emile Heskey.

With eight minutes to go, Heskey applied a crucial flick to Milner's cross and Delfouneso volleyed home from close range with only his second touch since replacing Agbonlahor.

It ensured Sunday certainly was a happy day for the man they call the Fonz.

Squads :

Aston Villa: Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Ashley Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing, Carew, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Delfouneso, Heskey, Reo-Coker, Beye, Clark

Portsmouth: James, Vanden Borre, Mokoena, Wilson, Sowah, Diop, Yebda, Brown, Boateng, Kanu, Utaka
Subs: Ashdown, Smith, Pack, Ward, Ritchie, Ciftci

Lampard complement goal and twice goal from Drogba and Malouda, tighten at the top of the Barclays Premier League

PORTSMOUTH 0

CHELSEA 5
- Drogba 32,
- Malouda 50,
- Malouda 60,
- Drogba 77,
- Lampard 90

**Chelsea fired their Premier League title charge back on track with a comfortable moved into second place in the Premier League and to within one point of leaders Manchester United with an emphatic win at bottom club Portsmouth.

Didier Drogba hard-kicked the ball into an empty net after David James tossed at thin air, in the 32 th minute Chelsea lead.

In the second half Lampard plays in Malouda down the left wing and into the box, he takes a touch, composes himself and smacks the ball into the net from a tight angle, James no chance, 2-0 Chelsea.

Chelsea could have added a third moments by Malouda thumps a rebound into the net after a Lampard shot is saved down low to his right by James but he can do nothing about the follow up and Chelsea are flying. 3-0 Chelsea.

Blues add to their tally with Drogba grabbing his second of the goal with 15 minutes remaining. The Ivorian latched onto a diagonal ball before shrugging off Steve Finnan and firing the ball past James at his near post.

In the late minutes Frank Lampard scores for Chelsea completed a big victory at Fratton Park, tie up Manchester United's lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Team Line-up :

Portsmouth: David James, Marc Wilson, Ricardo Rocha (Angelos Basinas 45), Hermann Hreidarsson, Hayden Mullins, Aaron Mokoena (Nwankwo Kanu 71), Steve Finnan, Jamie O'Hara, Richard Hughes, Tommy Smith (Quincy Owusu-Abeyie 45) , Frederic Piquionne.

Chelsea: Petr Cech, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho (Alex 37), Yuri Zhirkov (Patrick van Aanholt 71), Paulo Ferreira, John Obi Mikel, Deco, Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda, Didier Drogba, Daniel Sturridge (Joe Cole 55).

Drama five goals between threats thrown from the Premier League

PORTSMOUTH 3
- Smith 37,
- O'Hara 88,
- Kanu 89

HULL CITY 2
- Fagan 27,
- Folan 73

**There is no doubt the Premier League still matters to Portsmouth after Kanu's dramatic late winner left home fans at Fratton Park celebrating an unlikely result.

Hull led twice, first through Craig Fagan's deflected strike in the 27th minute and then after Caleb Folan slid the ball home with 18 minutes to go. Tommy Smith had equalised in the first half, before O'Hara and Kanu combined to turn a otherwise forgettable 88 minutes into a memorable 90.

While Portsmouth are resigned to a life outside of the Premier League, Hull still have some hope. This was a crushing blow for new manager Dowie, yet he is desperately trying to remain optimistic.

Line-ups:

Portsmouth: James, Mullins, Rocha, Hreidarsson, Belhadj, Smith, Mokoena, Wilson, O'Hara, Owusu-Abeyie, Piquionne. Subs: Ashdown, Diop, Brown, Finnan, Webber, Kanu, Basinas.

Hull City: Myhill, Mendy, McShane, Mouyokolo, Dawson, Folan, Marney, Bullard, Kilbane, Fagan, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Subs: Duke, Barmby, Geovanni, Garcia, Cooper, Olofinjana, Cairney.