Chelsea lose at home to Villa
January 1st, 2012 - 8:06 pm ICT by IANS
London, Jan 1 (IANS) Chelsea lost further ground to English Premier League table toppers Manchester City as they slumped to their third home defeat, losing 1-3 to Aston Villa.
The Blues yet again looked laboured in their play, hardly creating clear cut chances. Manager Andre Villas Boas decided to bench club legend Frank Lampard and out of form Spaniard Fernando Torres.
Chelsea opened the scoring with Ivorian forward Didier Drogba scoring his 150th goal for the club. Veteran defender Richard Dunne took out Drogba in the box who then put away the penalty in the 23rd minute.
Stephen Ireland equalised for Villa just five minutes later, scoring his first goal in more than two years. It was looking like Chelsea were heading for another draw when Stiliyan Petrov gave the visitors the lead in the 83rd minute. Darren Bent came off the bench to score the third goal three minutes later, much to the dismay of the home fans who jeered their team off the pitch.
Elsewhere, Manchester United missed the opportunity to go top of the table as they were defeated at home 2-3 by Blackburn Rovers.
Arsenal leapfrogged Chelsea to go fourth in the table with a 1-0 win over London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
- Chelsea win Champions League for the first time - May 20, 2012
- Terry's last-gasp block helps Chelsea to draw with Spurs - Dec 23, 2011
- Chelsea reach Champions League quarters after thrilling win - Mar 15, 2012
- Manchester United stay in hunt as Chelsea suffer setback - Dec 27, 2011
- Last-minute thrillers render Chelsea win, Arsenal loss - Jan 03, 2012
- Drogba confirms Chelsea exit - May 22, 2012
- Manchester City top Premier League as Bolton takes emotional win - Mar 25, 2012
- Chelsea stun Barcelona at home in Champions League - Apr 19, 2012
- Liverpool, City secure Carling Cup semifinal berths - Nov 30, 2011
- Won't play for another English club: Drogba - May 23, 2012
- Chelsea thrash Wigan to lift Premier League title - May 10, 2010
- Chelsea thrash Blackburn to go back to top - Oct 25, 2009
- Lukaku contemplating loan move away from Chelsea - Mar 02, 2012
- Lampard hails Drogba for Chelsea's historic win - May 20, 2012
- 'Chelsea finding bad spell hard to live with', says Drogba - Feb 09, 2011
Tags: bench club, didier drogba, dismay, english premier league, english premier league table, fernando torres, frank lampard, further ground, home fans, london jan, manchester city, manchester united, petrov, queens park, queens park rangers, richard dunne, rivals, table toppers, three minutes, villas boas