Aston Villa slipped to defeat in their opening game of the Peace Cup as Emile Heskey was stretchered off in the 1-0 loss to Malaga.

In a game of few chances, Villa suffered an early blow when Heskey was taken off after just seven minutes due to mild concussion.

Villa were indebted to Brad Friedel for keeping them on level terms, with the American producing fine saves to deny Oscar and David Gonzalez either side of half-time.

At the other end, Villa's Spanish defender Carlos Cueller headed a decent chance over following a corner in the second half.

Isaiah Osbourne wasted Villa's best opportunity on 78 minutes as he fired over the crossbar following Curtis Davies' flick-on.

And just two minutes later, Malaga grabbed the winning goal when Fernando slotted home after Friedel could only parry Albert Luque's cross.

Malaga can now book their place in the semi-finals of the Peace Cup when they play Atlante on Monday, while Villa will need the Spanish outfit to slip up in that match if they are to have any chance of making the last four when they face Atlante on Wednesday.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill is confident that Heskey will be fit to tackle Atlante, but will continue to monitor the striker.

"Emile is feeling a lot better," O'Neill told the club's official website. "He was a bit disorientated and we felt that, having come back late and only playing a few minutes of the game, it was best just to take him off and make a substitution at that time.

"But he is feeling much better now. We will have to monitor it each day, but I don't think he would be ruled out at this stage."