Calamity Carson costs Villa

Villa suffered a tale of 'What ifs' as Portsmouth completed the double over the Claret and Blue. A Jermain Defoe lob and a Nigel Reo-Coker own goal gave the hosts victory at Fratton Park.
Villa will be wondering whether it could have been different if they had signed Jermain Defoe in the transfer window as they showed a worrying lack of ruthless finishing in front of goal.
At the other end, the Villa faithful may also be pondering the future of Scott Carson after he made two costly errors, whilst former Villan David James looked class throughout.
If only Defoe had signed and James had stayed all those years ago!
But, it's the present that's the issue as Villa now find themselves below Portsmouth in seventh and 10 points behind Liverpool in fourth. It has to be said that the chances of European football returning to Villa Park are looking slim except for the prospect of the Intertoto Cup.

Inexplicable

The game didn't start well for Villa as they were soon behind after the ball was slid through for Defoe to chase, and from a less than dangerous position on the edge of the box he managed to lob Scott Carson. There were two covering defenders but inexplicably Carson chose to come then hesitated leaving Defoe with the chance to loft the ball in which he duly took.
John Carew missed a great chance 10 minutes before the break as he seemed to have done all the hard work but failed to finish. It was to be the story of Villa's afternoon.
Just minutes later, Villa were made to pay as Carson rushed out of his goal to clear a ball that again could have been left to the covering defender. He tried slide the ball away but his kick hit Nigel Reo-Coker and travelled 25 yards finally ending up in the empty net vacated by the keeper.
It was a comedy moment but no Villa fans were laughing as they saw their European hopes descending into the south coast gloom.

Wasteful

After half time Villa went at Pompey but still couldn't find the breakthrough as Agbonlahor couldn't connect with a Shaun Maloney cross which would have brought an almost certain goal.
Maloney was later replaced by Marlon Harewood and the on form striker thought he had given Villa hope, only to be crushed by the offside flag.
Ashley Young could have got one back but he was denied by 'Mr Consistency' David James, who was making his 161st consecutive appearance. After today's performance it is hardly likely that Carson will even equal a fraction of that tally.

Deflation

As the game approached its end, things got better and then worse for Villa. Their destroyer in the reverse fixture at Villa Park, Sulley Muntari was dismissed gifting the visitors a glimmer of hope. But not long after, Olof Mellberg making his comeback to the team was also dismissed for an innocuous looking tussle.
Fans were left feeling deflated as they left the ground and they must have been thinking about what could have been. Unfortunately, the answer is too broad to even contemplate.