All that separated these two sides in a heated match at Villa Park was a late Fabian Delph goal, which shocked the league leaders as they had had clear cut opportunites to score throughout the match.
Chelsea had the ball in the net through Nemanja Matic but it was ruled out for handball in the first half and in the second, Chelsea saw 2 players and their manager sent off. The first was Willian for picking up a second yellow card, from which they never really recovered their tempo and then later on in the match Ramires was sent off for a lunge on Karim El Ahmadi, and complaints from manager Jose Mourinho lead to him being sent to the stands.
Villa made their man advantage count as Fabian Delph cleverly flciked home a Marc Albrighton cross in the 82nd minute to cap off a disastrous evening for the Blues.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho’s reaction: “If I speak I’m in big trouble, and I don’t want to be in big trouble, and if I speak I’m accused of bringing the game into disrepute.
The referees do what they do, they do and they go home, they do and they don’t go to the press, they refuse even to exchange a couple of words when one person, like me who has been in football for so long, asks politely, ‘Can you speak with me for five seconds?’ and it’s ‘No, I don’t speak with you for five seconds’.
We have to put it behind us, there is no other solution.”
Aston Villa manager paul Lambert’s reaction: “I’ve been here nearly two seasons and we’ve had some big moments in big games, but that’s the best one we’ve had.
It was a fantastic all-round team performance, let alone anything else. I thought we were well worth it, I really did.
We were up against a team that not long ago won the Champions League, is vying to win the Premier League this year and is vying to win the Champions League again.
It was an extraordinary effort. I didn’t think we were inferior and I thought we were well worthy of winning it.”
By Phil Wellbrook
