There will be winners and losers when the transfer window closes next week and at the moment it looks as if Aston Villa will be one of the sides to benefit most from a spot of retail therapy during the winter sales.

Martin O’Neill spent £3.5 million on Emile Heskey last week and the England striker made an instant impact by scoring on his debut last night as Villa climbed to third in the Barclays Premier League. “We’re making it interesting,” O’Neill said. “I still believe the other teams at the top have more about them, but it’s something new for us, so we might as well enjoy it.”

Villa’s charge towards the top — they are level on points with Liverpool — was helped by another unconvincing display form Portsmouth. Tony Adams’s team were insipid in the first half and inspired in the second but all their good work was undone 20 minutes from time when Nadir Belhadj was sent off for a second booking.

The French midfield player could easily have been shown a straight red card for kicking Craig Gardner in the first half and his short fuse got the better of him again when he took out his frustration on one of the assistant referees during his team’s best spell.

Many Portsmouth fans were worried when Adams replaced Harry Redknapp in October and the former Arsenal and England defender has done little in the past three months to suggest that he has what it takes to manage at this level. Under Adams, Portsmouth have won only twice in the league and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea City on Saturday, but there were signs last night, especially in the second half, that his players are beginning to respond to his idiosyncratic methods.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Adams recalled Kanu to his starting XI last night, while bowing to crowd pressure by reverting to a standard 4-4-2 formation. While Portsmouth started the game three points above the relegation zone, Villa, who had won their previous five away matches in the league, were three points away from the top of the table. O’Neill made three changes to the Villa side that drew away to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday as Heskey made his debut after his transfer from Wigan Athletic at the ground where he scored his 100th Premier League goal in November.

The striker made his presence felt in the opening stages, providing a focal point for Villa’s attacks, and it took him only 21 minutes to score his first goal for his new club. Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin, the Portsmouth centre backs, failed to deal with a long clearance from Brad Friedel and Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor played a leisurely game of head tennis before Heskey beat David James with a crisp right-foot strike from the edge of the area. “Emile was fantastic,” O’Neill said. “He was very strong and he scored a great goal. Hopefully, that is the first of many.”

Agbonlahor should have made it 2-0 soon after, when he had only James to beat, and Portsmouth almost made the England forward pay for his miss in the second half. Campbell, hampered by a hip injury, was replaced by Younès Kaboul at half-time and Portsmouth were far more solid and dangerous in the second half. Friedel made a smart save from Jermaine Pennant in the 49th minute as Portsmouth dominated possession and only a shocking miss from point-blank range by Peter Crouch prevented the home team from drawing level. “He apologised for that miss but I told him he didn’t need to,” Adams said.

The Portsmouth manager was encouraged by his team’s performance but had harsh words for Belhadj, who was lucky to receive only a yellow card when he kicked Gardner from behind in the 44th minute. He could have no complaint about receiving a second booking after he abused the referee’s assistant over a contentious decision for a throw-in. “I’ve got no complaints with the sending-off,” Adams said. “He just can’t do that.”

Portsmouth (4-4-2): D James - G Johnson, S Campbell (sub: Y Kaboul, 46min), S Distin, H Hreidarsson - J Pennant, H Mullins, S Davis, N Belhadj - Kanu (sub: J Utaka, 74), P Crouch. Substitutes not used: A Begovic, D Nugent, N Pamarot, A Mvuemba, A Traoré. Booked: Belhadj, Johnson. Sent off: Belhadj.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): B Friedel - C Cuéllar, Z Knight, C Davies, L Young - C Gardner (sub: S Sidwell, 65), S Petrov, G Barry, J Milner - G Agbonlahor, EHeskey (sub: N Shorey, 83). Substitutes not used: B Guzan, M Harewood, N Delfouneso, M Salifou, I Osbourne. Booked: Petrov, Milner.

Referee: P Walton.