Aston Villa 2-1

Independent:

Branislav Ivanovic hands Blues vital three points in close affair at Villa Park

Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2

Simon Hart  

There was no hiding what this victory, his first in six visits to Villa Park, meant to Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea manager walked straight on to the pitch at the final whistle, punched the air and began waving his arms as if to conduct the away fans singing on the opposite side.

Back on his bogey ground, Mourinho had seen Aston Villa raise their game and end a goal drought stretching back to December yet Chelsea, missing the suspended Diego Costa and injured Cesc Fabregas, still took the points thanks to Branislav Ivanovic’s second-half winner.

In the process, Chelsea capitalised on Manchester City’s slip-up against Hull City and moved seven points clear. Mourinho tried to played down their advantage – “There are 42 points to play for and a lead of seven is nothing in this country,” he said – but it felt like his third Premier League title had just moved a touch closer.

At Stamford Bridge earlier this season Mourinho tried to shake the hands of Paul Lambert, Villa’s manager, and a distinctly unimpressed Roy Keane before the final whistle. There was no handshake yesterday, only some barbed comments from Chelsea’s manager about Villa having one of “the best squads”, “very good players” and a “fantastic stadium”. Everything, in other words, but a good manager.

Mourinho was responding to a first-half row between Lambert and Rui Faria, Chelsea’s assistant coach, which saw the Scot jabbing a finger at the visiting bench as tempers rose following a spot of Didier Drogba play-acting.  Hazard opened the scoring with a lovely finish

Lambert had his own dig back, saying: “Jose is a great manager, I would love to learn from him as football manager but I wouldn’t like to learn things off the pitch from somebody in his dugout.”

If this unseemly sideshow was typical Mourinho, this victory was typical Chelsea as they showed both quality and character to record their seventh away win of the campaign. They took just eight minutes to take the lead. Oscar did the hard work with a run from the halfway line before pulling the ball back for Willian, who crossed towards the six-yard box and Eden Hazard put just enough on the ball to steer it past Brad Guzan.  Jores Okore ended Aston Villa's 11-hour wait for a goal

Chelsea were briefly knocked out of their stride by Villa’s explosive start to the second period. Tom Cleverley had already seen a shot deflected just over when Jores Okore struck Villa’s first Premier League goal in precisely 660 minutes. The impressive Carles Gil was the creator, showing lovely footwork to escape Oscar before crossing to the far post, where Okore buried a header.  Ivanovic fires home a beautifully struck left-footed volley   New signing Juan Cuadrado came on for the final 10 minutes

Yet Chelsea upped the tempo again, and after Willian had twice gone close Ivanovic delivered the decisive blow. Cesar Azpilicueta capitalised on Okore’s failure at his near post by lifting the ball into the middle where Ivanovic, with a swing of his left leg, sent a fierce diagonal drive past Guzan.

It was a fourth straight League defeat for Villa ahead of Tuesday’s six-pointer at Hull, but they will take some positives from their high-energy display – not least the performance of the Spaniard Gil, their January signing from Valencia.  Jose Mourinho's team now have a seven point lead


Aston Villa (4-5-1): Guzan; Hutton, Okore, Clark, Cissokho; Gil, Cleverley (Sinclair, 74), Westwood, Delph, Weimann (Cole 80); Agbonlahor (Benteke, 68).

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Matic; Willian (Cuadrado, 80), Oscar (Mikel, 73), Hazard; Drogba (Remy, 64).

Referee: Neil Swarbrick.

Man of the match: Ivanovic (Chelsea)

Match rating: 7/10


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Telegraph:


Aston Villa 1 Chelsea 2, Branislav Ivanovic strikes to put Jose Mourinho on the road to the title

Full-back's brilliant half-volley ended home side's valiant comeback as they ended their 11-hour goal drought at last

By  John Percy, Villa Park


Jose Mourinho conceded the Premier League title at Villa Park last season but this was a potentially seismic afternoon for Chelsea.

Mourinho has frequently seen his team unravel on trips to Spaghetti Junction in recent years yet this victory, a first win here in six attempts for the Chelsea manager, felt like a defining moment.

Branislav Ivanovic underlined his enduring excellence with the crucial goal and despite Manchester City’s late equaliser against Hull, even Mourinho had to smile barely 24 hours after his sullen teenager act at Cobham.

He now holds a seven-point lead over Manuel Pellegrini and this was a deafening statement from his players, doing all the talking required after his self-imposed vow of silence.

Aston Villa did end their embarrassing drought, scoring a first league goal in 11 hours, but there are other statistics that remain grim reading for Paul Lambert, such as two wins from 20 games.

Mourinho now only has Newcastle to cross off his list after finally ending his wait for a win at Villa Park and the title is in sight, even if he is remaining cautious.

“In another country I would say the lead is fantastic but in this country it is nothing,” he said. “Seven points means seven points but you have 14 matches to go.

“We are speaking about 42 points to play for and I think it’s nothing. This was a very important victory but we have to focus on ourselves and win the next game.

“Was I surprised about City’s result? I’m surprised about nothing, every team can take points but I didn’t care about it. Somebody told me after the game, I did not think about it. We will go step by step.”

Mourinho has usually viewed trips to Villa with a sense of dread. His first spell in charge was brought to an abrupt end in 2007 when he was sacked shortly after a 2-0 defeat, while last March he wrote off Chelsea’s title hopes after Fabian Delph’s late winner.

Villa are proving accommodating hosts to many opponents, however, on a day when Lambert marked his 100th league game in charge by dropping Christian Benteke, despite the club’s chronic goal shortage.

It took only eight minutes for Chelsea to expose Villa’s defensive frailties. Oscar broke clear of Jores Okore on the halfway line, advancing towards the penalty area to find Willian whose low pass was turned in by Eden Hazard.

It was ruthlessly simple and Villa supporters must have been fearing a long afternoon. Fans in the North Stand attempted to provide Lambert’s players with assistance by holding paper arrows pointing to the goal.

Villa did respond, with Gabriel Agbonlahor heading Ashley Westwood’s cross narrowly over the bar but in the first half they had the cutting edge of a plastic spatula.

These encounters have become notoriously fractious in recent years and at times it threatened to boil over as the tackles rained in. Lambert and Mourinho have also clashed in the last three meetings and the Villa manager exchanged words with the Chelsea bench late in the first half, later revealing he had been annoyed by a comment believed to have been made by coach Rui Faria.

“I would love to learn off him [Mourinho] as a football manager but I wouldn’t want to learn things off the pitch from someone in his dugout,” said Lambert after the game.

He was celebrating three minutes into the second half, however, after Villa had a ‘eureka’ moment and rediscovered the art of goalscoring. The impressive Carles Gil beat Oscar on the right with an exquisite drop of the shoulder and his cross found Okore at the far post unmarked, with the Dane waiting to head home.

“We’re Aston Villa, we’ll score when we want”, chanted a stunned Holte End.

The game was threatening to drift away from Chelsea but they regained their lead after yet another defensive calamity. This time it was Okore who contrived to needlessly give the ball away and Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross back into the box found Ivanovic, who hooked an excellent half-volley into the corner. What a signing he has proven to be, an absolute bargain at £9million.

Juan Cuadrado, the £26.8million signing, was introduced as a substitute with ten minutes to go and Chelsea coasted to a vital win without any late scares. Their first league title in five years is in sight.

Villa are slipping ever closer to the relegation zone after four successive defeats and suddenly their trip to Hull City on Tuesday night has taken on mammoth proportions.

Lambert said: “Our season will not be defined with what happened against Arsenal and Chelsea, it is about from now on in. I thought we deserved something from the game but we conceded a very poor goal.”


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Observer:

Aston Villa end famine but Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic ruins their day

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Chelsea

Daniel Taylor at Villa Park


It ended with Chelsea moving seven points clear at the top of the Premier League and maybe even the semblance of a smile from the man who came back to English football insisting he wanted to be known as the Happy One. José Mourinho’s scowl has felt like a permanent attachment in recent times but this felt like a significant moment in the Premier League title race and it was not straightforward seeing off an Aston Villa side that had at least paid attention to the photograph of an empty goal splashed across the front of the Birmingham Mail. “Memo to Villa,” it read. “This is what a goal looks like.”

Paul Lambert’s side certainly needed the reminder, bearing in mind the moment when Jores Okore headed in Carles Gil’s cross to make it 1-1, three minutes into the second half, brought up the 11-hour mark since their last top-division goal 43 days earlier. So, hallelujah, Villa have finally managed to equal the number of league goals Bournemouth have scored in Birmingham this season.

Unfortunately for Villa, there have still been only two occasions all season when they have scored twice in a league game and Chelsea had enough time and self-belief to restore their winning position through Branislav Ivanovic’s decisive strike.

Ivanovic is establishing himself as the ultimate odd job man – a full-back, centre-half, attacker, motivator and goalscorer all wrapped into one – and this was his fifth goal in his past six starts against Villa. There was still a third of the match to play but Villa had resorted to type and Christian Benteke’s introduction, having been dropped from Lambert’s starting XI, had little impact.

Mourinho brought on Juan Cuadrado, the £23m acquisition from Fiorentina, during those moments and Manchester City’s inability to beat Hull City at their own ground ultimately made it a hugely satisfying win for the leaders. True, they might have made easier work of it bearing in mind Eden Hazard opened the scoring with a superbly worked team goal after only eight minutes. They did, however, show title-winning qualities in their response to Villa’s first league goal in 2015 and, on the balance of play, they were clearly the better side.

Mourinho tried to argue that seven points amounted to “nothing” in a league where “nothing surprises me”. They missed Diego Costa at times and it was a difficult day for Didier Drogba, a month short of his 37th birthday and struggling to remind us of the player of old, barring those moments when he was flinging himself to the ground in pretend agony.

Yet Mourinho was twirling his hand in the air after the final whistle and his celebrations indicated he knew what an important victory this might be.

Early on, it had looked like it would be a much more routine win when Drogba played the ball forward and Oscar, running through the inside-right channel, eluded Okore then played it inside for Willian. Hazard had anticipated the next pass, darting in front of Alan Hutton, and Willian delivered it with just the right amount of weight for his team-mate to turn a first-time shot past Brad Guzan.

The frustration inside Villa Park manifested itself in some voluble dissent aimed towards Tom Cleverley. Lambert could be seen taking exception to something that Rui Faria, Mourinho’s assistant, had said in the opposite dugout and was suspicious to learn that the Chelsea manager had described Villa’s squad as “one of the best” in the country, with a “very good bench and lots of solutions”. There is history here and Lambert, with two wins in 20 league games since signing his new contract, did not appreciate the flattery. “That’s his opinion,” he said. “Maybe he is trying to put pressure on me.”

If nothing else, Mourinho was guilty of serious exaggeration, especially given the way Willian, Oscar and Hazard endangered the home defence. Villa’s scoring drought had gone on so long there were supporters holding up posters with arrows to show the way to goal. Gil, a £3.2m signing from Valencia, looks like he might be a bargain and it was a beautiful little drop of the shoulder to fool Oscar before his cross picked out Okore at the back post.

Unfortunately for Villa, Lambert’s players could not follow the crowd’s instructions again. Chelsea found some new impetus and when César Azpilicueta’s perseverance created the chance for Ivanovic he let fly with a left-foot shot that was still rising as it flew into the net.


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Mail:

Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea:

Eden Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic ensure Blues extend Premier League lead to seven points despite Jores Okore finally ending home side's 11-hour goal drought

By Laurie Whitwell


The jokes can finally end. Aston Villa have scored in the Premier League. At the eleventh hour. Literally.

After 660 minutes of trying and failing to get a goal, Paul Lambert’s side found a way past one of the best defences in world football.

Carles Gil shimmied round Oscar and delivered an inch-perfect cross. Jores Okore rose at the far post and nodded the ball past Thibaut Courtois.

Still, it was not enough to stop Chelsea. Suppose that is another punchline of sorts. You wait 11 hours for a goal and still get beat. It is tough being a Villa fan these days.

Jose Mourinho enjoyed his first victory at Villa Park at the sixth attempt thanks to a thunderous response by Branislav Ivanovic.

As a defender, perhaps he felt personally slighted that English football’s worst attack had got the ball over the line against him.

Twenty minutes after Villa stunned their supporters into jovially singing ‘We score when we want’ the Serbian went down the other end and won the three points for Chelsea.

In the 68th minute, Cesar Azpilicueta advanced down the left and was only partially stopped by Okore. The Danish defender then failed woefully with a clearance, allowing Azpiliceuta to dig out a cross.

Fabian Delph missed the ball but Ivanovic did not, striking a magnificent half-volley with his left foot into the net before Brad Guzan had time to think.

Mourinho, who had remained in his seat throughout, stood up to celebrate. The travelling fans clambered over themselves to do likewise with the mound of Chelsea players cheering in front of them.

An important victory clinched on the path to what Chelsea hope is a first Premier League title since 2009-10.

The win had appeared certain when Eden Hazard continued his fine form by opening the scoring in the eighth minute.

Oscar ran down the right and played the ball across to Willian, who took a touch and fed a delightful pass into the area. Hazard galloped on to it and swept a first-time finish into the corner.

Given Villa’s impotence in attack - sharing the lowest goal total of any team from the Premier League era at this stage of the season - that seemed to be that.

Lambert had made the call to drop Christian Benteke following his poor showings in recent weeks, even if the Belgian was the last to score in a claret and blue shirt in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on December 20.

Gabby Agbonlahor started instead, in the aim of giving more mobility and speed for counter attacks. It nearly went right when he connected with Delph’s cross, only to head over.

He had not heeded the signs carrying arrows held aloft by some fans. Handed out by a betting firm known for their ambush marketing before kick-off, the idea was to point the way to goal for their players.

Gradually though, Villa found a foothold and produced a few moments to worry John Terry and his fellow defenders.

Shortly before interval it became tetchy on the sidelines when Didier Drogba fell to floor holding his head after an aerial duel with Ciaran Clark. Lambert removed his coat and exchanged words with the rival dugout.

At Stamford Bridge earlier in the season the Villa manager was infuriated by Mourinho’s attempts to shake his hand before the final whistle. Here, the Portuguese stayed in his seat.

Three minutes after the interval, Villa found that longed-for breakthrough. It really was some skill by Gil, who enjoyed another good game since his £3.25million move from Valencia.

But Villa sunk deeper after their goal, inviting Chelsea pressure. Willian twice went close with slapped shots from range, the second requiring the slenderest of fingertips from Guzan to divert wide.

Another blue attack reasserted the visitor’s authority.

As soon as Chelsea retook the lead, Benteke emerged - replacing Agbonlahor. He had been readying himself in any case but was unable to alter the course of the match.

At the end Mourinho strode across the turf he had finally conquered and beckoned to his supporters to keep making noise. Much more of this and the title will be theirs.


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Mirror:

Aston Villa 1-2

Ivanovic emerges as late hero as Blues go seven points clear
 
By James Nursey
 
The Serb struck a superb winner at Villa Park to put Mourinho's men back in front after Jores Okore had finally ended Villa's goal drought

Jose Mourinho saw Chelsea avenge their costly defeat here last season as Branislav Ivanovic was the Londoners' hero again.

Right-back Ivanovic scored the extra-time winner in the Capital One Cup semi-final against Liverpool recently.

And he struck the decisive goal in the 66th minute here with a superb and vital goal as title rivals Man City dropped points.

It was extra sweet for the visitors as it was Mourinho's first win at Villa Park in six trips.

It erased nightmare memories of their trip here last March when they lost 1-0 and had two players plus boss Mourinho sent off.

But this clash always looked likely to end more favourably for Chelsea.

They took the lead in the eighth minute after a well-work goal.

Oscar instigated the danger with a good run and pass down the right flank, it found Willian who intelligently teed up Eden Hazard to find the bottom corner.

Villa, who dropped Christian Benteke, had a good spell before the break but did not level until the second half.

Defender Jores Okore headed in the equaliser in the 48th minute at the back post from Carles Gil's clever cross after skinning Oscar.

Villa fans then finally found their voice after seeing their side end an 11-hour goal drought in the top-flight.

But it was Chelsea who re-took the lead after both Okore and Fabian Delph failed to clear for the hosts.

Ivanovic ruthlessly despatched it with a clinical shot on the bounce into the corner with his left-foot.

Mourinho was then able to bring on new signing Juan Cuadrado off the bench for the final 10 minutes as Villa crashed to a fourth successive League loss after a ninth game without a win in the Premier League.


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Express:


Aston Villa 1 - Chelsea 2: Mourinho lifts Villa hoodoo and opens gap on Manchester City

THE Grumpy One was suddenly transformed into a party animal as Jose Mourinho smashed his Aston Villa jinx to take a giant stride towards another Premier League title.

The Portuguese, a man of war for the past weeks, waltzed onto the pitch at the final whistle - one which had seen him fail to win on the five previous occasions – to celebrate a formidable seven point lead at the top of the table.

Arms aloft he waved to the Chelsea fans in the knowledge that barring a collapse the championship will be theirs come the end of May, probably a lot sooner than that at this rate.

A niggly Mourinho insisted on the eve of this trip to the Midlands that Manchester City weren’t true champions because they had flouted Financial Fair Play rules.

He added that Manuel Pellegrini’s team should have been docked points. Who needs UEFA when you’ve got teams like Hull City to place a spoke in City’s wheels?

In the meantime Chelsea, without being spectacular, are free wheeling to more title glory.

By contrast Aston Villa are embroiled in a relegation scrap even if they ended their near 11 hour goal famine.

It’s a pity some of the Villa players don’t display the same fighting spirit of their manager Paul Lambert who, clearly upset by some words uttered from the Chelsea bench, took off his coat and threw it down in the technical area in a challenge straight from a Saturday night out in his native Glasgow.

Afterwards Lambert insisted the protagonist hadn’t been Mourinho, but one of his side-kicks, although there was once again no handshake with his opposite number. “He was half way down the pitch by the time I got to his dug-out.”Lambert explained.

They are more than half way to the title after what looks being a defining afternoon.

Chelsea’s opening goal had been a lesson to Villa in the art of scoring with the minimum of effort and fuss.

Didier Drogba when he isn’t playing the Equity card, rolling on the ground in mock agony at the slightest of touches, can still be a useful Chelsea asset.

His ball sent Oscar down the right. An incisive pass from the Brazilian was immediately swept into Eden Hazard’s path by Willian and in a flash Chelsea were in the lead.

Villa’s crestfallen crew could only look at each other fearing the worst as the Holte End grumbled and looked towards Lambert as their scapegoat.

To Villa’s credit, despite being devoid of confidence, they more than matched their illustrious visitors with their passing and movement.

But the staple diet of any football club at any level is goals. Finally the first since before Christmas – almost 11 hours of impotency – arrived for Villa from an unlikely source.

When a corner was headed back to Carles Gil the Spaniard’s quick feet responded with a neat side step to outwit his marker and a perfect delivery was set up for central defender Jores Okore to power a header past Thibaut Courtois.

Okore disappeared into the Holte End, now transformed into a celebrating sea of claret and blue, to the inevitable cost of a yellow card.

The last thing Mourinho wanted was to be the fall guy in Villa’s redemption. When in need call on Branislav Ivanovich.

The man mountain who has come up with so many important strikes including the League Cup semi-final extra time winner against Liverpool was at it again here. Cesar Azpilicueta’s persistence in a crowded penalty area was rewarded with a flick towards the adventurous Ivanovich whose searing volley was too good for Brad Guzan.

Cue a rare smile from Mourinho.


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Star:


Aston Villa 1 - Chelsea 2: Ivanovic winner keeps Blues top

Grumpy Jose Mourinho almost had a smile on his face as he finally broke his Villa Park hoodoo.

By Harry Pratt


Until yesterday the Chelsea boss had failed to secure a victory here in his five previous attempts.

And when Paul Lambert’s hosts ended their mind-numbing goal drought – on exactly 11 hours – to make it 1-1 early in the second half, it seemed moody Mourinho’s Midlands curse was strike again.

Yet just when the Portuguese coach – sent off here last season – was probably preparing another rant at the world, Branislav Ivanovic appeared from nowhere to produce an absolute scorcher.

The Serbian full-back’s first-time left-foot volley after 66 minutes could not have been hit more sweetly. It simply roared into the far corner.

And that moment of a class was sufficient to bag Mourinho’s league leaders a second away win on the spin – and widen the gap in the title race.

With Manchester City only drawing at home to Hull, this result put Chelsea SEVEN points clear of their nearest challengers.

Mourinho continued to play down his chances of landing the Premier League for the third time in his two spells at the Bridge.

He said: “In any other country it would mean a lot but over here a lead of seven points is nothing. Anything can happen in this league.

“Nothing surprises me in England. I didn’t care about what Man City were doing.

“When you are top you don’t need other teams to drop points. If they do, great – but when you’re top you just focus on yourselves.”

You had to feel for his opposite number, though. Lambert saw his troops give everything – yet still come away with nothing. They remain in 16th place but are only two points clear of danger.

Their one consolation is that after six-and-a-half games of firing blanks, they have at least rediscovered what it feels like to find the back of the net. Those shocking goal stats compelled Lambert, in his 100th Villa game, to axe his one-time £25million-rated Christian Benteke.

Chelsea were without their main hitman, too, as top scorer Diego Costa was serving the second of his three-match stamping ban.

But it made no difference to the visitors. For within eight minutes they were ahead from their first genuine assault of the afternoon.

Oscar held off Aly Cissokho, slipped in fellow Brazilian Willian, whose cross was perfect for Eden Hazard to sweep home his 13th of the campaign.

Villa’s only effort of the half was a header from Gabby Agbonlahor. And there was plenty of spirit in the technical area after 37 minutes when Lambert took off his coat – and offered the entire Chelsea bench to see him outside later. Mourinho never moved.

Nor did his Chelsea defence three minutes into the second half when Villa equalised. New Spanish ace Carles Gill waltzed down the right and crossed to the far post, where Jores Okore rose to head in.

But with 43 minutes remaining, Chelsea had plenty of time to restore order. Immediately, they went from cruise control into overdrive.

And after a flurry of close chances, they deservedly regained the lead through Ivanovic’s blistering effort.

Lambert was dejected but said: “There are a lot of positives to take and we didn’t deserve to lose.”

As for his spat with the Chelsea bench, Lambert seemed to point the finger at Mourinho’s assistant Rui Faria.

The Scot said: “Jose’s a great manager who I can learn a lot from – but I wouldn’t want to learn things off the pitch from somebody in his dugout.”


Aston Villa: Guzan 8; Hutton 7, Okore 8, Clark 7, Cissokho 6; Cleverley 6 (Sinclair (74th) 6), Westwood 7, Delph 7, Weimann 7 (Cole 80th), Agbonlahor 6 Benteke (68th) 6); Gil 9

Chelsea: Courtois 7; Ivanovic 8, Terry 7, Cahill 6, Azpilicueta 6; Ramires 6, Matic 7, Willian 7 (Caudrado 80th), Oscar 7 (Mikel (73rd) 6), Hazard 7; Drogba 5 (Remy (63rd)

STAR MAN: Branislav Ivanovic

Ref: N Swarbrick