London, Decemeber 8:

Sulley Muntari scored twice for Portsmouth in a 3-1 win on Saturday over Aston Villa in the Premier League — the first win for Pompey at Villa Park in 37 years. Portsmouth’s last win at Villa Park was a 5-3 victory on January 17, 1970 in the old second division.

Muntari scored in the 40th and 61st minutes with long-range shots, and Craig Gardner scored an own-goal to give Portsmouth its sixth successive away victory in the league. Muntari scored his first goal with a powerful 25-yard shot into the top corner of the net and his second on a counterattack.

A goal kick from Scott Carson was collected by Villa’s Nigel Reo-Coker, but he was dispossessed by Muntari, who ran past another defender, Zat Knight, to score into the corner. Portsmouth went 1-0 up in the 10th minute when Gardner put the ball in his own net while marking Portsmouth striker Benjani Mwaruwari.

Gareth Barry pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute with a penalty kick, earned when Sylvain Distin brought down Ashley Young. Martin Laursen had two chances to equalise after the own-goal.