Chelsea make it two from two


The defender headed home a Frank Lampard free kick midway through the second half, but could have seen red after appearing to elbow Christian Benteke just two minutes earlier

A second-half goal from
Branislav Ivanovic ensured
Chelsea made it two wins in a
week as the Blues saw off
Aston Villa 2-1 at Stamford
Bridge. Jose Mourinho had
previously gone four Premier
League games without
registering a victory over Villa, but he finally bucked that trend at Stamford
Bridge courtesy of Branislav Ivanovic's thumping
header. Chelsea made a flying start when Antonio Luna
inadvertently scored past his own goalkeeper before
Christian Benteke levelled proceedings on the stroke
of half-time. And it looked like the home side would be frustrated
until Ivanovic met Frank Lampard's free-kick with 17
minutes remaining. Mourinho made two changes to the Chelsea team that
beat Hull City on Sunday, with Juan Mata and Demba
Ba replacing Kevin De Bruyne and Fernando Torres,
the Spaniard omitted from the squad altogether. Paul Lambert had to make one enforced change from
the Villa side that opened with a win against Arsenal
on Saturday, as Ciaran Clark came in for the injured
Nathan Baker. Chelsea started with plenty of intent and caused the
Villa backline plenty of trouble, and they were
rewarded with the breakthrough after just six
minutes. Oscar threaded a through-ball into the path of Eden
Hazard on the left-hand side of the box and his
curling effort was saved by Brad Guzan only to
unluckily rebound off Luna and into the back of the net. After scarcely touching the ball in the opening 20
minutes, Villa finally started to settle into the game.
They had their first glimpse of goal in the 22nd
minute when Benteke picked up the ball in midfield
and the Belgian laid into the path of Karim El Ahmadi
but his long-range effort went harmlessly wide. But Chelsea's inability to convert possession into
goals cost them dearly deep into first-half stoppage
time. Gabriel Agbonlahor beat Ivanovic for pace on the left
and picked out Benteke, who took one touch before firing home a left-foot strike that squeezed inside Petr
Cech's near post. The second half continued in a similar fashion with
Chelsea enjoying the majority of the play but unable
to break down a stubborn Villa defence. And they were nearly punished in the 61st minute
when Matthew Lowton broke on the right and played
a pass along the floor that Benteke stepped over
before Agbonlahor hit a first-time strike that curled
just over the crossbar. Just two minutes later and Villa once more came
desperately close. Benteke picked up the ball on the left and crossed
deep to the far post where Andreas Weimann
connected well with a right-foot volley but he was
denied by a smart save from Cech. Chelsea made a double change with Andre Schurrle
and Romelu Lukaku replacing Mata and Ba. And the changes sparked the home side into life
when Ivanovic found the breakthrough in the 73rd minute. Lampard played a teasing outswinging free-kick from
the right and the Serbian timed his run well to head
beyond Guzan. There was almost time for one more twist when
Weimann hit a half-volley from Benteke's assist but he
was thwarted by Cech. Chelsea now turn to their attention to Monday's trip to
face Manchester United at Old Trafford, while
Lambert's side welcome Liverpool to Villa Park on
Saturday.