Post traumatic stress: Chelsea skipper John Terry takes
Aston Villa's second goal rather badly
John Terry blew his top as a fatal weakness in
the Chelsea
defence was exposed by Aston
Villa's big guns.
The England captain was incandescent with rage at his team's
awful marking after they conceded twice from corners to lose 2-1 at
Villa Park, gifting top spot in the Barclays Premier League to
Manchester
United.
The defeat was Chelsea's second in successive away matches,
following their humiliation at Wigan, and
the defence which once seemed impregnable now looks to be rocking
at set-pieces.
Hulking centre-backs Richard Dunne and James Collins did the
damage for Villa with a goal in each half after Didier Drogba had
given Chelsea the lead - and it wasn't just Terry who raged with
frustration.
Drogba and defender Ashley Cole also had a fierce argument on
the pitch over the problems at the back and manager Carlo Ancelotti
laid into Chelsea's approach for the third away trip in a row.
The Italian, who knows defensive frailties could pose a threat
to his side's title challenge, said: 'On the set-plays we need to
do better. We need to apply more pressure and more markers in the
box.
'At Wigan, we made the same mistake for the first goal and we
have to work to improve the situation because it's important.
'We have a lot of very good jumpers, like Didier Drogba, John
Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, and we have to pay more attention, with
more concentration in the box. We have worked on the set-plays but
have to maintain focus. There are things we can improve and
set-plays are one of these.'
Chelsea actually won in the Champions League at Apoel Nicosia
between these two defeats. However, their poor showing in Cyprus
still had Ancelotti reverting to his native tongue to lambast his
players because his English was not good enough to express the
level of his anger.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill insisted his side should have won
by more yesterday after being denied a penalty early in the game.
But his argument that Villa were well worth a victory - and that it
wasn't based purely on set-pieces -fell on deaf ears after Frank
Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Nicolas Anelka all shared the blame
for Chelsea's setback.
Terry was still furious as he left the ground but goalkeeper
Petr Cech, who was defended by Ancelotti, admitted the defeat was a
blow to Chelsea's title hopes.
He said: 'We gave United a chance to get in front of us and it
is three points dropped unnecessarily.
