Branislav Ivanovic powered in a second-half header as Chelsea broke Aston Villa’s stubborn resistance to win tonight’s Barclays Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea went ahead after Eden Hazard’s shot was unluckily pushed into his own goal by Antonio Luna, before Christian Benteke’s precise equalizer, BBC reports.
After 73 minutes there were heated scenes on the touchline between managers Jose Mourinho and Paul Lambert, as the Villa boss argued Ivanovic should have received more than a booking for the incident with Benteke.
Referee Kevin Friend had booked the Serbia defender moments earlier for catching Christian Benteke with a flailing arm in an aerial challenge which infuriated Villa boss Paul Lambert.
All the attention was on Jose Mourinho’s return in Sunday’s defeat of Hull, but the self-proclaimed Special One wanted to shift the focus to his team, who endured an altogether more difficult test than on Villa’s most recent visit to Stamford Bridge.
Villa were beaten 8-0 last December, but were in buoyant mood following the 3-1 opening day win at Arsenal and determined to claim the scalp of another title contender.
Benteke, whose double accounted for Arsenal, scored his third goal of the season with the final kick of the first half to equalize, reports Irish Times.
It came after a dart down the left from Gabriel Agbonlahor which is the kind of play which could bring the forward into England contention again.
Then, just as Villa looked their most threatening, Ivanovic struck Benteke before breaching the visitors’ defence as Mourinho’s unbeaten home record in the Premier League was extended.
The Portuguese has never lost in 62 top-flight matches at Stamford Bridge and next Monday takes his side to Manchester United for an early title bout, where transfer target Wayne Rooney is sure to be the focus of attention.
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