LONDON - Chelsea marked the start of Dutch coach Guus
Hiddink's spell in charge with a 1-0 victory at Aston Villa on
Saturday to keep their Premier League hopes alive.
Hiddink, who has taken the job until the end of the season
following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari, watched the top
flight's leading scorer Nicolas Anelka bag a vital three points
with a well-worked goal before halftime.
Victory lifted Chelsea above Villa into third place with 52
points.
Villa have 51 points, six more than fifth-placed
Arsenal who gave a debut to record signing Andrei
Arshavin in a disappointing 0-0 home draw with
Sunderland. The Russian playmaker was substituted
in the second half.
Stoke City drew 2-2 with relegation rivals
Portsmouth while Middlesbrough
remained in the bottom three after a 0-0 stalemate with
Wigan Athletic.
Bolton Wanderers boosted their survival hopes with
a 2-1 defeat of West Ham United.
Villa, who last tasted a league defeat in November, were hoping to
bolster their hopes of breaking the top-four monopoly with a win
that would have knocked Chelsea out of the title race, but were
disappointing, especially in the first half.
"We had good possession, good triangles and were dangerous in the
box," Hiddink, who is combining his Chelsea duties with those of
national coach of Russia, told Sky Sports.
"The only thing we didn't do was kill the game with the second goal
and the second half we leaned back a little too much and they have
this power in the air. But on the other hand we could have scored
more."
It was an encouraging start for Hiddink. Chelsea were slick and
purposeful in the first half and could have put the game beyond
Villa by the interval.
With strikers Anelka and Didier Drogba selected together, a rarity
under Scolari this season, and Frank Lampard at his most dangerous
in an attacking midfield role Chelsea dominated.
The only goal of the game arrived after 19 minutes when Lampard
received the ball with his back to goal, spun sharply and danced
past two Villa defenders before releasing Anelka with a beautifully
weighted pass.
Anelka showed great composure, dinking the ball over Brad Friedel
for his 21st goal of the season.
John Terry forced a fine save from Friedel and Drogba wasted
another opportunity when he failed to spot Lampard unmarked in the
penalty area.
Villa almost equalised out of the blue when Ashley Young's free
kick bounced down off the crossbar with keeper Petr Cech beaten but
that was their only real chance in the first half.
The home side improved in the second half as Chelsea sat back.
Gabriel Agbonlahor should have done better after wriggling past
burly defender Alex, shooting tamely at Cech.
Drogba then made a vital block from a James Milner volley while
Garth Barry had a shot well saved by Cech.
As Villa left holes at the back, Chelsea could have punished them
and Michael Ballack had one thunderous shot tipped over the
crossbar by Friedel late on.
