Chelsea Celebrate too soon

Chelsea 3 Aston Villa 3

As the players surrounded Carlo Ancelotti, enraptured by John Terry’s eighty ninth minute strike, we were all thinking this is the moment the blues had turned their season and Premier League title defence around. And yet we were all wrong! Coming from 2-1 down to lead 3-2 with only stoppage time to play yet another defeat for Gerard Houllier’s side looked on the cards. Villa had absorbed incessant pressure from the home side ever since Emile Heskey’s early second half header put them in front; repelling wave after wave had tired them and in the last ten minutes they finally gave way. Goals from Didier Drogba and the captain put a different complexion on the afternoon.

But Chelsea fell foul of one of the deadliest sins in football, they switched off. Just the manner in which they celebrated their third goal told you they thought they had won the clash with the struggling West Midlands outfit. Five minutes were shown by the fourth official for stoppages and Villa rallied to snatch what in the end looked an unlikely point. Substitute Marc Albrighton provided a delicious cross for defender Ciaran Clark to head home. Ashley Cole stood static opting fatally not to track the Irish youngster’s run. Silence befell the Bridge, Chelsea’s hard work and second half industry undone in an instant.

The first forty five was a completely different story to all that followed. For all the world it looked as if the visitors would not get to the break with a full compliment of players on the pitch as the yellow cards totted up. Six Villa players went into referee Lee Mason’s notebook who also awarded both sides a penalty. A clumsy piece of defending by James Collins was all the encouragement Florent Malouda needed to go to ground and the official bought it. Frank Lampard put his foot through the ball to net his first spot kick in four attempts with twenty three minutes played.

Michael Essien’s lunge that caught Nigel Reo-Coker five minutes before the break gave Villa a way back and Ashley Young obliged. With honours even after the opening forty-five the visitors were probably edging it, Chelsea having offered little. The home side were given no time to settle as just two minutes after the break Young tossed forward a free kick, Stewart Downing took it down superbly, came inside, worked the space for a cross and Heskey headed Villa in front.

The turning point for Ancelotti’s men came when Paulo Ferrieria was taken off for the more attack-minded Jose Bosingwa just before the hour mark. With an increased threat from the right flank Chelsea forced the issue, drawing three inspired saves out of Brad Friedel in the visiting goal. A last ditch intervention from Richard Dunne denied Salomon Kalou another chance to test the American who also kept out efforts from Lampard and Ramires.

Talisman Drogba finally found the breakthrough on eighty four minutes when he picked up a loose ball that Friedel had parried from Kalou’s shot, rounded the keeper and powered the ball over the line, squeezing it past the covering defenders. The Ivorian was involved again when his header from Essien’s cross was saved only for blues captain Terry to put in the rebound with a minute of the ninety to go. Clark’s leveller though saw Chelsea drop another two points which further hinders their push to defend the Premier League crown.

Houllier, in a throwback to his days as Liverpool manager, played four centre halves across the defence. Whilst this tactic obviously did not work (after all they did concede three times) it certainly worried the home side from set pieces. All that height troubled Terry and company, particularly because the inexperienced Jeffrey Bruma partnered him in their own back line today. The Villa boss also selected the most experienced line up available to him perhaps in light of the fact his recent tendency to blood youngsters had brought little success.

Seeing Frank Lampard playing again is most welcome. Without him Chelsea looked so one dimensional in the middle of park as there’s nobody else on their books who breaks forward centrally to support the front three. The England international put some wonderful through balls and forward passing in besides his contribution from twelve yards. Were it not for the awesome Friedel he may have added some assists to his performance.

The blues have now drawn as many games as they did during last season’s march to the league championship and stand six points behind current leaders Manchester United who have a game in hand. If Chelsea are to retain their Premier League title you can’t help feel that they cannot afford to make another mistake unless both Mancunian clubs and London rivals Arsenal and Spurs do.