It probably says more about how poor Portsmouth are right now that Aston Villa playing 4-4-2 really only needed to step up a gear for 15 minutes or so in the first half to win this game.

Very little happened during the first 30 minutes with Pompey probably edging things. Villa finally showed some creative spark in the middle which culminated with Petrov making a surging run into the box on the right hand side and was fouled by Belhadj. James Milner made no mistake from the spot.

Villa exploited the little extra room Pompey provided as they attempted to get back on terms and just before the break Gabby superbly turned his marker and sprinted towards David James’ goal. Despite losing his footing as he hit his shot from just inside the D, he managed to send the ball into the top corner, giving James no chance.

As the second half kicked off it looked like Villa were going to take full advantage of Pompey pushing on, but that quickly faded and it was down to Brad Friedel to keep Villa ahead. While the new back four looked organised and disciplined for the most part, and they did restrain Pompey’s second half efforts to outside the box, there were signs that a better quality side could have punished the lapses. On the other hand, it could be argued that a better quality side won’t be allowed so much room to play. That remains to be seen.

The important thing right now is that it’s another win, four in a row now. That’s 12 points from the opening 5 games, which was only bettered back in 1998/99 when 13 points were taken from first five games.

Villa are now up to fifth in the Premiership table, only behind Tottenham and Man City on goal difference. It’s entirely possible that Chelsea and Man Utd could put a dent in that tomorrow and send us above them. We shall see. We’ll also have a game in hand over Spurs.

Liverpool are about to kick off at Upton Park with the intention of crashing the top 5 themselves. Hopefully the other claret & blue team will keep them below Villa for the time being.

Closing out this brief review, it’s worth singling Gabby out for some praise. He really does seem charged up at the moment, clearly getting back into the England squad during a World Cup year is a priority for him. That can only be good for the Villa. If he keeps playing like this for the rest of the season he’ll almost certainly be the 20-a-season man so many fans have been crying out for.

And finally, my slight concern at the moment is that we apparently cannot find a central midfield pairing capable of controlling a game, even against very weak opponents. It might be controversial, but I’m starting to wonder whether the weakness in the middle is actually Petrov. Screaming 4-5-1 ad infinitum is overly simplistic to my mind and it seems pretty obvious to me that a side with true quality and aspirations of challenging the best teams should be able to play two strikers. Especially at home against a team that hasn’t won a single point this season.