Aston Villa 2 (0)-(1) 4 Chelsea
Collins 77' Sturridge 9'
Lichaj 80' Ivanovic 51' 83'
Torres 90'
Villa Park and Aston Villa in general are without doubt Chelsea's bogey team. Poor away premier league form on top of a bad hunting ground for Chelsea added up for a potential banana skin game in the run in. Perhaps fortunate to play Villa at a time where they were with numerous injuries including, of course, their captain Petrov. Despite this, Chelsea eventually came out of Villa with 3 points, something which can be looked back on as 3 good points.
The Match
Chelsea started brightly and capitalised after just 9 minutes when Sturridge netted after a decent build up including Torres being unlucky to finish with an effort that was blocked at source at point blank range. From that moment on Chelsea never got out of first gear and when the second goal came from man of the moment Ivanovic, Chelsea once again became unbelievably complacent and left the doors wide open for Aston Villa to formulate a way back into the match. Becoming complacent is a attribute that has become far to familiar with Chelsea and results in throwing away points time and time again. Long gone are the Mourinho days of shutting out a match. With the work rate dropped and a mindset that screamed job done. Villa scored a quick fire double and gave us exactly what we deserved for the drop in tempo and desire. Once 2 up, the emphasis must of shifted to the Champions League second leg against Benfica on Wednesday which was almost suicidal if it wasn't for a second Ivanovic goal scoring from a identical position - this time with his head. Torres wrapped it up with a 4th seconds from time after Villa had over committed.
Un-noticed bad from
Despite being extremely pleased with three points at such a bogey ground against such a bogey team, I do think that Villa's bad form has unbelievably gone un-noticed and the fact that Mc Leish is still in charge is beyond me. Villa haven't got the worst side in the world yet they are 15th in the league just 5 points off the relegation zone. Looking at the table, the 3 points should have been a given and nothing else would have sufficed.
Player Ratings
Cech - 6/10
Cole - 6/10
Luiz - 6/10
Terry - 7/10
Ivanovic - 8/10 M.O.M
Lampard - 7/10
Mikel - 7/10
Kalou - 6/10
Mata - 7/10
Sturridge - 7/10
Torres - 8/10
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