Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea: Ivanovic Winner Seals Important Victory for Below Par League Leaders
Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 7 points after an important 2-1 away win against Aston Villa.
The league leaders were without Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa again and were below their usual best as a result. An early goal from Eden Hazard fired the Blues in to the lead, before Jores Okore struck back just after the break to end Villa’s goal drought. However, when Branislav Ivanovic popped up with the winner it ensured the points would be heading back to West London.
Fresh off the back of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal last week, Villa manager Paul Lambert would have been keen to see his side remain solid in the opening stages. That was far from the case though as Chelsea broke the deadlock with their first meaningful attack after just 8 minutes.
The away side were given far too much time on the ball and as Oscar broke forward he played in Willian who in turn found Hazard in the right place to sweep home a first time finish.
Having not scored a league goal since 20th December there seemed little way Villa would get back into the game, and fans weren’t offered any hope when Gabriel Agbonlahor failed to put a good headed chance anywhere near the goal.
As the first half progressed Chelsea were unable to get above half speed, but still looked capable of scoring more. Only a strong hand from Brad Guzan kept out Oscar, Gary Cahill then threatened from a set piece, while Ciaran Clark’s last ditch challenge stopped Ramires from getting in at goal.
Set pieces looked to be the only way the home side could hope to get something because there was little in the way of promise from open play as the likes of Tom Cleverley and Ashley Westwood looked typically short of creative ideas or attacking quality. Carles Gil offered the one bright spark, but the Spaniard was struggling to see enough of the ball.
However, the Villa side that came out after the interval looked like a different team. Even Cleverley suddenly looked sharper, while Andi Weimann fired over. Finally, after 660 minutes without a goal, Gil worked himself in space out wide and Okore was mysteriously unmarked at the back post to convert a pinpoint cross.
Having failed to get out of second gear in the first half, Chelsea found themselves needing to step things up, with Willian leading the charge.
Soon enough, just as clinically as they did in the first half, Mourinho’s team did take the lead again just after the hour mark. Cesar Azpilicueta broke forward down the left and after failures to clear, Ivanovic was in the right place at the right time to dispatched a controlled half volley.
Clearly not willing to take further chances, Mourinho pulled Oscar and threw John Obi Mikel into the action to preserve the lead. Juan Cuadrado also arrived for his eagerly awaited debut with a 10 minute cameo.
In the closing stages the home side put together a few good passages of play in midfield but, as in the first half, cutting edge quality deserted them. Chelsea were happy to sit back and absorb pressure and the moves broke down time after time with little issue for the defence.
In the end there was no final flurry from Villa and the referee’s whistle signalled the end of an important Chelsea win.
Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Clark, Cissokho, Cleverley (Sinclair – 74′), Westwood, Delph, Gil, Agbonlahor (Benteke – 68′), Weimann (Cole – 80′)
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic, Willian (Cuadrado – 80′) Oscar (Mikel – 73′), Hazard, Drogba (Remy – 64′)
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