Aston Villa break Chelsea hearts at Stamford Bridge
Aston Villa held the reigning champions to their fifth draw of the season as Chelsea conceded a late goal to drop two vital points at Stamford Bridge. The result sees the Blues drop down into fifth place in the league table, currently six points behind leaders
Manchester United. The Red Devils still have a game in hand over Chelsea, meaning that the gap between the two sides could conceivably widen to nine points.
The Villans started the match positively, with Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and Downing all coming close to giving their side the lead. However, Chelsea started to push their way back into the match. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Florent-Malouda-c13838 found himself in the box with an opportunity
to shoot at goal, but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 made no mistake from the spot, giving Chelsea a vital lead.
Aston Villa responded immediately, looking to exploit the weakened defence of the home side. Clark and Dunne both had glorious chances to level, but both men scuffed their shots badly. Villa’s pressure finally paid off in the 41st minute. Essien’s
mistimed tackle gifted the visitors with a penalty, which the returning http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ashley-Young-c6813 converted coolly.
The second half brought more of the same from Aston Villa. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786, getting their reward in the 47th minute. Downing provided a dangerous ball into the box which was headed home by
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Emile-Heskey-c12468, leaving the crowd at Stamford Bridge in stunned silence.
The goal spurred Chelsea back into life. The champions launched an onslaught at the Villa goal, creating chance after chance to get themselves back into the game. Lampard, Drogba and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523 all came close to getting the equalizer, but were thwarted by some
dogged defending by Aston Villa. Ancelotti brought on Solomon Kalou and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-Sturridge-c10076 in a desperate attempt to force a result.
The gamble paid off. Kalou’s effort was blocked by the keeper, and the ball found its way to Drogba. The Ivorian striker’s shot somehow squeezed through three defenders to bring Chelsea back on level terms. Sensing blood, the Blues surged forward as the
clock ran quickly down. Just minutes before the final whistle, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 fired home what he thought was the winner.
The crowd at Stamford Bridge erupted, thinking that their side had surely managed to clinch all three points. However, just a few seconds after the restart, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ciaran-Clark-c9247 got on the end of Marc Albrighton’s cross and nodded the ball in coolly, ensuring that
both teams walked away from the Bridge with a point each.
Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti is on thin ice at the moment, and the latest result is hardly likely to help matters. The Italian will have to pull off a miracle to save Chelsea’s season from here onwards.
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