Zat Knight made it a dream debut for
Villa
Aston Villa 2 - 0 Chelsea
A debut goal from Zat Knight and a late Gabriel Agbonlahor strike
saw Aston Villa end Chelsea's 18-match unbeaten streak in the
league. Knight climbed above Didier Drogba to head in a Gareth
Barry corner in the second minute of the second half.
Chelsea threw everything at Villa in the final half hour but came
up against a determined Villa backline. Salomon Kalou dragged a
shot wide before Villa broke and Agbonlahor stabbed in Ashley
Young's driven cross.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Jose Mourinho at Villa Park,
where Chelsea have not won since 1999. But it was a terrific game
for the neutral - not to mention the Villa fans - with an
Agbonlahor shot on the turn that was beaten out by Petr Cech firing
an early warning sign that Martin O'Neill's side meant
business.
Chelsea went close through long-range efforts by Michael Essien and
Florent Malouda. John Terry headed over and Shaun Wright-Phillips
saw a shot well turned around the post by Scott Carson as Chelsea
began to move up the gears. It was real end-to-end stuff with the
quartet of Young, Agbonlahor, John Carew and Luke Moore providing a
new-look Chelsea backline with plenty to think about.
Drogba was not enjoying his most profitable afternoon as Villa's
own reworked defence made him fight for everything. He showed great
strength to hold off Martin Laursen, but having done the physical
work he could not add the finishing touch and shot wide from the
edge of the area. A lively Wright-Phillips lashed into the
side-netting but there was a let-off for Chelsea just before
half-time when a Young cross fell for Barry, only for Moore to get
in his way attempting an ambitious overhead kick.
Villa have yet to score a league goal in the first half this
season, but whatever manager O'Neill says at half-time seems to be
working. Within a minute of the kick off Young had a shot tipped
over by Cech and from Barry's corner Knight climbed above Drogba to
head powerfully past Cech. It was the second goal in successive
games for £3.5m capture Knight - the other an own goal for Fulham
on his last visit to Villa Park that also helped provide his new
employers with the three points.
Mourinho wasted no time in throwing Claudio Pizarro on, soon to be
followed by Joe Cole and Kalou. But despite plenty of possession
and some nervous moments for the home side, Chelsea struggled to
come up with clear-cut chances. Their best opportunity to equalise
looked to be from a set-piece, with Terry heading over from one of
their succession of corners. Kalou shot wide from a promising
position but as Chelsea poured forward they left themselves open to
Villa's pace, and when Young broke down the left his driven effort
was guided in by Agbonlahor.
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill:
"It's a great day. Chelsea are brilliant and we're delighted that
we've won.
"Zat's goal calmed us down then Chelsea took the initiative
slightly, but we kept at it and grabbed a second. "I was very, very
pleased with their attitude. It has been terrific since the opening
day defeat to Liverpool and this will give us a big, big
boost."
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho:
"It was a good game with good teams but a result that Chelsea
didn't deserve at all. "We dominated the first half, reacted well
to their goal and we deserved to get a point at least. "We made a
mistake at the corner for their goal. We shouldn't be conceding
goals like that but also had enough chances to score."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aston Villa: Carson, Mellberg, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Agbonlahor,
Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Moore, Carew (Petrov 79).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Harewood, Gardner, Maloney.
Booked: Reo-Coker, Barry, Agbonlahor, Carew.
Goals: Knight 47, Agbonlahor 88.
Chelsea: Cech, Belletti, Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips
(Joe Cole 63), Makelele (Kalou 63), Essien, Malouda, Obi (Pizarro
52), Drogba.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Ben-Haim.
Booked: Drogba.
Att: 37,714.
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
