Aston Villa 0 Chelsea 1: Match report

Feb 21 2009

a low cross from James Milner - and when the loose ball broke to Emile Heskey the striker was unable to keep down his left footed attempt.

It was a rare moment of danger from the home side and after 19 minutes Anelka put Chelsea ahead with his sixth goal in six meetings with Villa.

Lampard was the creator with a superb piece of skill which enabled him to race clear of Curtis Davies and Stiliyan Petrov before sliding a pass through to Anelka.

The former Arsenal striker showed great composure in dinking the ball over Friedel into the corner of the net for his 21st goal of the campaign.

Chelsea looked a class above their opponents as they moved the ball around in impressive style to leave Villa often chasing shadows.

Friedel needed to pull off a superb one-handed save to keep out John Terry's thumping header from a Lampard corner.

Villa struggled to get into the game as an attacking force but in the 33rd minute Ashley Young came close to equalising when his curling free-kick hit the crossbar. Heskey was the first to react to the rebound but he headed well wide.

O'Neill would have demanded a response for his side after the break but it was Terry who came close to doubling Chelsea's lead after 49 minutes.

The England captain met a Lampard corner with a firm header - but Petrov was able to clear off the line with Friedel beaten.

Carlos Cuellar became the first player to be yellow carded after 52 minutes for a foul on Anelka.

Cech was forced to make his first meaningful save after 54 minutes when he beat out a fierce drive by Gabriel Agbonlahor after a slip by Alex.

Villa started to build some momentum and Cech turned aside a powerful effort from Gareth Barry.

But Chelsea finished strongest and they had the best two chances of the closing stages.

Drogba could have wrapped up the points after a mistake by Cuellar - but he lofted his shot into the Holte End, before Friedel denied Jose Bosingwa at close range.