Valiant Villa frustrate Chelsea

SOCCER/Aston Villa - 0 Chelsea - 0:Chelsea's attempt to retain the Premiership continues to be in shaky health and the club appears to be suffering from one of those mystery illnesses whose symptoms change by the day.

While the defence at last added another clean sheet to the record, the attackers could not score and Manchester United are left contented with their six-point lead.

Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho picked up their fifth bookings of the domestic programme and thus serve their bans in next week's League Cup semi-final first leg with Wycombe. Little went to apparent plan for Chelsea, who devised too few clear-cut openings.

Chelsea had not won on this ground since Claudio Ranieri was in charge and the task seemed as tough as ever last night, particularly since the Premiership champions are out of sorts and pining for the temporarily extinguished star or two. They should at least be available to light up performances in the near future.

Jose Mourinho now believes John Terry will be able to return after just over a fortnight following back surgery in the match with Wigan on January 13th, when Arjen Robben is also expected to re-emerge from a hamstring injury.

It is felt, in addition, that Petr Cech's recovery from a fractured skull will be confirmed when he takes his place between the posts at Anfield a week later. Team selection could be a pleasure for the manager then, but for the time being it is a test.

After aiming both barrels at a few players who have let him down in the 2-2 draws with Reading and Fulham, Mourinho must have prayed that there would be a rejuvenating effect from all this candour but even if Chelsea dominated before the interval chances were infrequent.

Injuries often swarm around a particular area of a line-up and it was no surprise that another Chelsea centre back lasted a mere 33 minutes here. Khalid Boulahrouz hurt himself in a tackle and had to make way for Geremi.

But Villa boss Martin O'Neill, went into this game knowing he was close to equalling the worst period of his managerial career, a sequence he endured at Leicester. If his mind was not already on to the transfer market, it would have been directed there by the first-half injury to Craig Gardner that led to the introduction of young Isaiah Osbourne.

When the opposition had the ball, Villa set themselves up in a 4-1-4-1 formation that presented a significant obstacle. There was a lack of punch in Chelsea's finishing that nullified some capable build-up. When Michael Essien broke past Liam Ridgwell in the fifth minute and crossed for Drogba the striker could only hit the ball into the ground so hard that it bounced over the bar.

In the 29th minute, Lampard released Drogba on the right and when he found Ashley Cole at the far post the full back's header went straight to the goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly. Villa created very little in attack and Chelsea could relish their air of security, even if the right back Paulo Ferreira took over from Boulahrouz at centre half.

That may have accounted for the more enterprising tone shown by Villa at the outset of the second half and Henrique Hilario showed good anticipation to snatch the ball just as Juan Pablo Angel looked set to reach a Gabriel Agbonlahor through-pass in the 56th minute. By then, there had already been enough competitiveness in the air for Drogba to come by a caution for dissent.

The 4-3-3 formation is an old favourite of Mourinho's but Drogba is not getting the service he deserves from the flanks. Mourinho's introduction of Shevchenko for Shaun Wright-Phillips cannot have been analteration that needed much thought. With Cole enjoying scope to overlap, Chelsea frequently had territorial command but never assumed total control.

Guardian Service

ASTON VILLA: Kiraly, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma, Gardner (Osbourne 27), McCann, Petrov, Davis (Baros 75), Agbonlahor, Angel. Subs not used: Olejnik, Samuel, Hughes. Booked: McCann.

CHELSEA: Hilario, Ferreira, Boulahrouz (Geremi 33), Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Essien, Makelele, Lampard, Wright-Phillips (Shevchenko 66), Drogba, Kalou (Mikel 75). Subs not used: Hedman, Bridge. Booked: Drogba, Carvalho, Ashley Cole.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).