But the late chances fell to Wigan, with substitute Sibierski's miss followed by Heskey's equaliser.
In plenty of space, the midfielder blasted his cross beyond a completely unmarked Emile Heskey.
Heskey earned his reputation under Villa manager Martin O'Neill during their time at Leicester City.
And Owen was to make way a few minutes later, Titi Camara joining Heskey up front.
Rodallega's arrival softens the blow of Emile Heskey's departure to Aston Villa earlier this month.
Emile Heskey was unmarked at the far post from a corner but headed wide from six yards.
Friedel stopped Fletcher's crisp left-foot strike before Heskey claimed a share of the spoils for his team.
Wigan were handicapped within four minutes of the restart as Heskey limped off with a tight hamstring.
Manager Steve Bruce is keen to retain Heskey and has said he is "very confident" of keeping him.
But England had heroes all over the field, from the sound David Seaman to the tireless Emile Heskey.
Gerrard's clever drag-back deceived Jozef Valachovic and his near-post cross was bundled home inelegantly but effectively by Heskey.
Emile Heskey has been given the nod ahead of Jermain Defoe and will partner Wayne Rooney in attack.
Striker Emile Heskey scored a brace for the Reds as Bruno Cheyrou, Sami Hyypia and Salif Diao also scored.
Both sides made half time changes, with Milan Baros replacing Heskey and Pompey replacing Dejan Stefanovic with Richard Hughes.
Houllier was forced into a reshuffle before the interval when Heskey limped off to be replaced by Nathan Delfouneso.
Heskey headed home a James Milner cross after Brian Jensen had unconvincingly punched the ball clear from a corner.
Ashley Young met Nathan Delfouneso's cross to make it 2-1 and quickly added a third goal after Heskey's solo run.
From the restart, Darren Anderton delivered a deep cross from the right, but Jaaskelainen gathered comfortably despite Emile Heskey's challenge.
This time around, Bent has been given his opportunity because of injuries to regular squad members Emile Heskey and Theo Walcott.
Wigan came back into the game towards the end of the first half and Heskey's header revived the home side's hopes.
Stewart Downing's cross caused confusion, and Vidic was lucky to see Heskey's header bounce off his shoulder on to the bar.
With Heskey full of muscular running and Young dropping deep to collect the ball, Villa did possess more cutting edge going forward.
And it certainly seemed that way as Villa began at a high pace, utilising Heskey to good effect as they pushed forward.
And it was Young who capped a fine performance by sealing victory seconds later, when he met Heskey's cross from close range.
Frank Lampard's pass was out of Rooney's reach, but Heskey played in Gerrard to score with the outside of his right foot.
John Carew has made a timely return to fitness, especially given the knock suffered by Emile Heskey on international duty last week.
Other selection issues for manager Fabio Capello include whether to keep faith with striker Emile Heskey or bring in Tottenham's Peter Crouch.
James Milner converted the subsequent penalty and a Steven Ngonzi own-goal and Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey's strikes seemed to seal it.
Tottenham striker Crouch scored twice as he started in attack with Gabriel Agbonlahor because of injuries to Wayne Rooney and Emile Heskey.
The lively Caleb Folan then blazed over the bar following good work by Antonio Valencia and Heskey also had a shot blocked.
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