One Point Gained or Two Points Dropped?

Aston Villa 0 Chelsea 0

A goalless draw with Aston Villa calls into question just how much strength in depth do Chelsea have? For this evening’s trip to the West Midlands Carlo Ancelotti could not call on the services of injured quartet Alex, Yossi Benayoun, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard, with the Premier League’s joint leading scorer Didier Drogba also unavailable due to illness. This is hardly an ‘injury crisis’ in comparison with the Blues’ London rivals Arsenal who before the international break had an entire XI missing, but in the absence of the big names in particular Chelsea could not find a way past Gerard Houllier’s men. It could of course have been a different story altogether if Branislav Ivanovic’s connection to a Florent Malouda corner and/or Nicolas Anelka’s downward header from Ashley Cole’s cross had not both come back off the woodwork. The margins between a defeat, draw and victory are defined by moments such as these and young Ciaran Clark could have inflicted defeat on the visit, if his deft touch to Ashley Young’s free kick hadn’t similarly hit the post. These three second half chances were as clear cut as Stephen Ireland’s dragged shot which flashed across the face of Petr Cech’s goal in the first three minutes of the match after good work from the tireless Stewart Downing.

Perhaps a draw was a fair result when you consider both sides had two great chances apiece. Villa must get the credit for frustrating Chelsea, but in essence both these teams suffered from the same problem. Neither had enough thrust from central midfield today, leaving those leading the line, Anelka and John Carew respectively, isolated and inevitably drifting wide in search of the ball. Drogba and Lampard would be a miss for any side, but without the two most prominent attacking parts of their spine, the Blues lacked a cutting edge. Ramires and Michael Essien did not do enough to support Anelka and exactly the same can be said of Ireland with Carew. Chelsea have been tough to break down this season, but you can’t win silverware if nobody gambles to push up towards the centre forward.

Aston Villa were not without missing players either. Luke Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey missed the match with injuries and the impressive Marc Albrighton was unwell. Richard Dunne lasted little more than ten minutes before coming off with an ankle injury which in total means that the West Midlands outfit had the same number of first team regulars out as their opponents from the capital. There is a flip side to missing big names and that is it provides a chance for fringe players or youngsters to stake a claim to play in the XI. Dunne’s replacement Ciaran Clark had an eventual game, his performance solid rather than excellent. Gael Kakuta started on the right for Chelsea but his effectiveness was questionable. Teenager Josh McEachran came off the bench again for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. It is encouraging to see an English youth product in their matchday squad, particularly in the absence of Daniel Sturridge who was not in the eighteen.

Both sides will be happy with a clean sheet, but you can’t escape the feeling that Chelsea will be the least happy with a point. Today they could have gone seven points clear of both Manchester sides and fellow Londoners Arsenal and Spurs, as it is they are only five. United will be particularly relieved as they let a two goal home lead slip against West Brom, who finally seem to be getting some reward for getting the ball down and playing football in the top flight.