Football Update: Barclays Premier League- Chelsea Failed To Win Against Aston Villa
Chelsea was going through a rough period which saw them winning only a single game in nine matches. However, in their final match of last year, Chelsea edged past Bolton Wanderers. It was not a great performance from the Champions but it looked as if their
misery was over as the victory would prove to be a morale booster. But, Chelsea failed to capitalize on their victory as they failed to bag all three points against Aston Villa.
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Chelsea, made one big change in his squad. As the squad is having a lot of problems in the defence, in the absence of Alex, Ancelotti entrusted the job to his youngster http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jeffrey-Bruma-c18265. Jose Bosingwa was again left on the bench
while http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Salomon-Kalou-c32266 was included in the substitutes.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robert-c31222 Pires, was left on the bench.
Houllier really needed to get some result against Chelsea as his job was under scrutiny after his recent poor run, which saw Villa losing six games out of the last seven.
The Blues made a great impact in the midfield as soon as the match started. They enjoyed a lot of possession but were unable to make a real attempt on the goal. The first goal of the match came from a penalty scored by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 in the 23rd
minute. The penalty was conceded by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Florent-Malouda-c13838.
Villa did get an equaliser in the 41st minute of the match through http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Essien-c25294. There were not many moments in the first half for either side while there were frequent
rough tackles throughout. In a half marked with physical side of football, six Villa players and one Chelsea player went into the referee books for foul play.
Towards the end of first half, Villa had a couple of chances to take the lead. However, the second goal came after just two minutes into the second half. The youngster Bruma was not strong enough to keep Downing’s cross out as Heskey won the header and put
the ball behind http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Petr-Cech-c29837. As Villa took the lead, Chelsea attack looked stronger and they seemed more determined to find the goals. A lot of chances were created but they were kept out by last gasp tackles and good goalkeeping.
However, in the span of only five minutes, towards the end of the game, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 found two goals and retook the lead. First, Drogba headed the ball home from Malouda’s corner in the 84th minute of the game. Then, Drogba produced another great header
but it was blocked by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
At this point, it looked as if Chelsea had won the match but Villa had the last say in the match. In the injury time, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marc-Albrighton-c23470, who came in as
a substitute for the injured Agbonlahor. The match ended with both teams getting a single point and both teams deserved the praise for this well-contested affair.
With this draw, Chelsea has lost their Champions League spot to Tottenham Hotspur and are looking in worse condition. The title challenge has diminished as Manchester United have taken a comfortable six point lead and still have a match in hand.
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